Kevin Holland plans on returning to the Octagon with a finish.
After Holland suffered a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279, he announced his retirement from the sport. He later doubled down on that retirement claim until he got the offer to face Thompson in the main event of UFC Orlando which he said was something he needed to do.
“For a second there I was like, ‘Yeah, I could walk away and be happy.’ No stress,” Holland said on The MMA Hour. “People were like, ‘Even with the last performance?’ I was like, ‘Even with the last performance, I’m cool with it.’ Samurai code. Ready to die at any time. F*** it. Bushido. It is what it is… Until I got hit up with what I wanted and I was like, I can’t turn that down. I said if I got something magically wonderful or delicious I would step back up, and what’s more wonderful than Wonderboy?”
Once he got the fight, Kevin Holland said he got excited as he knew this was a massive fight for him. Thompson is a perennial contender and in the top-10 of the division, so beating him is huge for his career.
With that, Kevin Holland knows the fight won’t be easy but does expect to get his hand raised and believes he will KO Thompson.
Kevin Hollands Gameplan
“I don’t plan on going in there and shooting any takedowns against Wonderboy,” Holland said. “To be 100 percent honest with you, I plan on knocking Wonderboy the f*** out. I think Wonderboy is a fantastic fighter, I think his style is wonderful, it’s his name, but that being said, Pettis was able to knock him out and I think I’m going to be able to knock him out. Pettis was able to find his chin and I think I’m going to be able to find his chin, and when I find his chin, I think I hit a little bit harder than Anthony Pettis…
“But let’s not get mistaken, a lot of people go out there and strike with Wonderboy, usually look crazy. Geoff Neal, dude can strike really well, couldn’t strike with Wonderboy. Vicente Luque, strikes really well — and these are two completely different styles of striking — couldn’t strike with Wonderboy. Pettis is a crafty motherf*****, and he figured it out… I like to think I’m pretty crafty too, so I think I can figure it out, and I think my Kung Fu beats his Karate.
Who do you think wins this matchup? Kevin Holland or Wonderboy?
