Kevin Holland targets seven fights in 2025, still trying to get Colby Covington
Holland (28-13 MMA, 15-10 UFC) competed and won five times in 2020, earning him MMA Junkie's Fighter of the Year. Just over halfway through this year, Holland enters his fourth fight when he takes on Daniel Rodriguez (19-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) on Saturday's UFC 318 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) main card at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
Despite now being at welterweight, Holland plans on distancing himself from the UFC record of five fights in a year, which he's tied for with multiple fighters.
"I've got to do seven just to go ahead and top the record," Holland said during Wednesday's media day. "We're four down. I think we're getting Neil Magny after this one since I think he's one of the fellow guys that has five wins in a row in a year, right? So that'll be five, and then we'll go get the fifth win against somebody else. And then – I mean, I can fight a lot to be honest with you, and at 170 pounds I'm learning each time, it's just not that f*cking hard to get to."
Holland mapped out how he'd like the rest of his year to look like.
"I'd like to fight the week after Noche UFC or two weeks after Noche," Holland said. "I'd like to fight on Noche, but I could fight two weeks after or even a week before. I just want to fight around that time so I can make some money in the (state) of Texas just doing sponsorship stuff. After that, you can give me another one before Thanksgiving, and then give me another one right before Christmas, and that would be a good year."
If Holland can cap off a historic year, will he be looking at a title run?
"No, I think I'm going to do all that and still trying to be fighting Colby (Covington) next year," Holland said. "When he thought he could fight Paddy (Pimblett), and go down a weight class, he was 100 percent healthy. As soon as they said my name, (his) vaginal muscle tore. So you know how that goes. That sh*t takes him like 8-12 weeks to heal, so not an easy process."
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