Kurt Holobaugh (17-7) hasn’t fought since he last competed inside of the UFC octagon in May of 2019. The exciting striker has accepted a fight against kickboxing specialist Joziro Boye (17-5-1) as a part of the XFC lightweight tournament going down on November 11th at XFC 43. Holobaugh dropped his last three fights in the UFC which led to his eventual release from the world’s top promotion. Kurt wasn’t happy when he was released by the UFC but he learned a lot from his tenure there and is keeping a positive attitude as he takes the next step in his career.
“It sucked, there were no easy fights for me at all in the UFC, everybody the UFC threw at me was some dogs and top guys,” Holobaugh said. “But if I could take anything away from that, it is that I matched up well with those tough guys. I had good moments in those fights it really sucks the way it went down and I would love to still be fighting in the UFC but it is what it is you live and you learn and you never know what the future holds.”
At the end of the day, whether Kurt is winning fights or not what matters the most to him is his family and he plans to make sure they are in attendance come fight night.
“I am going to try and have all of my kids there,” Holobaugh said. “I brought my son to the Madison Square Garden fight against Shane Burgos so he is the only one who has seen me fight live. So I’m gonna have all 4 of my kids at this fight and that is what I am looking forward to”.
Holobaugh will now turn his full attention to an accomplished kickboxer who happens to be on an 8 fight winning streak. Boye presents some interesting problems on the feet but Kurt is feeling extremely confident heading into this matchup.
“I see this fight going a lot like the Gesias Cavalcante fight. (A fight where Holobaugh won in the fourth round due to strikes) I like to stand up too so I’ll stand up we will kickbox then maybe look for some openings to shoot a takedown and try to get the finish on top. That’s been one of the things I like to do, I have a lot of wins that way and if he gives up a submission in the middle then I’ll take that too I’m not gonna pass anything up”.
Make sure you tune in to NBC Sports on November 11th to catch Holobaugh’s return to action and all of the other exciting fights that XFC 43 will be putting on.