Kevin Holland at 170 lbs: What’s next for him in his new division?
We have a very exciting new face added to the UFC’s welterweight division, as Kevin Holland made his 170 lb debut last weekend at UFC 272.
Many of us waited some time for this move, as he was never the biggest middleweight (185 lbs), though he did have a good success in the division.
In fact, Holland had a better 2020 than anyone else on the roster, going 5-0 with four finishes.
However, he went 0-2-1 in 2021, winning just a single round out of 11 total. Nonetheless, he starts off 2022 with a bang, as he picked up a TKO victory over Alex Oliveira this past weekend.
After a tough first round, where he was picked apart throughout, Holland caught Oliveira with a beautiful short right hook that stunned the Brazilian, and followed it up with some more punches to the grounded Oliveira, securing the stoppage just 38 seconds into round two.
This brings us to the question, what’s next for Kevin Holland?
The UFC’s welterweight division isn’t short of bright young prospects that’s for certain, making it a fun job for the matchmakers to see where he goes from here.
Nate Diaz is looking for one last fight to end his career off with, and who’d be a better opponent for him than Holland? Okay, we can probably think of a couple, but Diaz was rumored to be slated with Dustin Poirier up at 170 lbs.
But, perhaps the UFC books Colby Covington versus Poirier and then we see these two go at it?
It’d be an entertaining stand up war between two BJJ black belts that love to shit talk their opponents.
Holland isn’t quite the star that Diaz would favor facing, but he is the exact type of fight, match up Diaz would want.
Danny Roberts could also be a fun match up for Holland. Roberts went 3-1 as a professional boxer, while Holland went 2-1 in professional kickboxing. He’s on a two-fight win streak as well, having gone 4-2 in his last six.
Then there’s Alex Morono, who’s on a three-fight win streak right now, having gone 7-2 in his last nine outings, picking up a TKO victory over Donald Cerrone in the most impressive of which.
There’s also Daniel Rodriguez, who’d come into the fight on a three-fight win streak, picking up wins over Mike Perry and Kevin Lee in two of those. And lastly, the winner of Khaos Williams versus Randy Brown would be a super interesting match up to see.
All of these names are just outside the top 15 at 170 lbs, and that’s just what Holland needs, a steady build up in his new division. Once he secures one more big win, it’s likely we’ll see him facing talents with a number next to their name.
What’s next for Kevin Holland?
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