In what would certainly be a surprising turn of events, UFC welterweight Kevin Holland has appeared to hint at a possible retirement from mixed martial arts.
This year, Holland returned to form through a drop to 170 pounds following defeats to Marvin Vettori and Derek Brunson at middleweight. After stopping both Alex Oliveira and Tim Means, “Trailblazer” was booked against Daniel Rodriguez at this month’s UFC 279 pay-per-view.
But the entertaining 29-year-old pulled the short straw when planned headliner Khamzat Chimaev missed weight. Having weighed in for a 180-pound catchweight contest, Holland was asked to meet “Borz” in the co-main event.
Having accepted his part on the revised card, Holland became Chimaev’s latest victim, with the Chechen born-Swede extending his perfect record to 12-0 with a first-round D’Arce choke submission.
DOMINATION FROM THE SECONDS INTO THE FIGHT 😱 #UFC279 pic.twitter.com/LAnAhymZGq
— UFC (@ufc) September 11, 2022
In the aftermath, Holland outlined his hopes to rebound before the end of the year, naming a re-arranged clash with “D-Rod” or a much-called for date in the cage with Stephen Thompson as options.
But having seen reports of Rodriguez having another opponent lined up, Holland has hinted towards retirement on social media.
Holland: “Got Paid, I’m Out”
On Thursday, Holland took to social media, first seemingly expressing frustration at reports of Daniel Rodriguez and Neil Magny squaring off next month.
Prior to UFC 279, Holland expressed his desire to fight four or five times every year in an interview with MMA Fighting, suggesting that if he couldn’t accomplish that level of activity, he may as well retire.
In a story, he wrote, “Lol, (didn’t) I just ask for this scrap, that’s wild,” perhaps believing he was owed the re-arranged matchup with the hard-hitting welterweight given that he agreed to face Chimaev on a day’s notice.
Minutes later, he uploaded a post that hinted at a retirement from MMA.
