When Kevin Holland made his appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series, he annoyed the UFC boss to the point that he didn’t want to sign him to the promotion.
This coming Saturday, the UFC returns to Newark, New Jersey for UFC 316 as Sean O’Malley looks for redemption over Merab Dvalishvili in the main event.
The women’s bantamweight title will be on the line in the co-main event as Julianna Pena looks to finally settle her longstanding feud with Kayla Harrison, who has impressed since her UFC debut at UFC 300 last April.
On the blockbuster undercard, fan favorite ‘Big Mouth’, Kevin Holland returns to action when he takes on Vicente Luque.
Dana White didn’t want to sign Kevin Holland following Contender Series win
‘The Trailblazer’ first showcased his skills to the UFC fans when he made an appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018.
Holland went on to score a unanimous decision victory against Will Santiago but frustrated the UFC boss Dana White because of trash-talking his opponent throughout the entire fight.
Because of Holland’s antics during the fight, White snubbed him and didn’t offer him a contract despite picking up the win.
However, a few months later, ‘The Trailblazer’ was offered a late notice opportunity by the UFC to take on Thiago Santos. Despite being beaten by the Brazilian, the eccentric Holland impressed White.
“Holland (impressed me). So for those of you that don’t know the story, he was on the Contender Series and he was a talented guy and he won his fight, but he wouldn’t shut up,” White said in the UFC 227 post-fight press conference.
“The entire fight he was talking to me, the whole fight. Now, any of you that have been to the Contender Series, it’s straight killers, everybody comes into that building (to win)… This guy comes in and is talking s— the entire fight. So I said, ‘I’m not signing this guy’, I don’t want him, I’m not interested in him,” White continued to tell the story.
Kevin Holland wants to make UFC history after UFC 316
In 2020, Holland equalled the record for the most amount of UFC fights in one calendar year with five, winning all five outings.
However, this year, Holland wants to go one better and break the record by making six appearances under the UFC banner, having already competed twice this year, with his fight against Luque scheduled to be his third.
“By the end of the year, I think for sure I’ll hit five or six fights before the year is over with. Realistically we’re already at three, two more would be easy as hell, three more is idealistically what I’d do but it just means I’d have a really busy year and that means next year probably wouldn’t be as busy,” Holland said during UFC 316 media day.