Timeline to irrelevance: Kevin Holland’s dramatic rise and fall grows increasingly desperate at UFC London

Kevin Holland has a problem.

At 32 years of age, “Trailblazer” should be peaking and building momentum toward a title run. He’s certainly talented enough. Holland has some ridiculous physical gifts, including but not limited to, an 81-inch reach, dramatic punching power and cast iron jawline. He’s technically skilled everywhere, and there have been several moments over the years where it feels like Holland has put it all together and become a contender.

Instead, he’s struggling in two separate divisions. “Big Mouth” has lost four of his last five, and fans are starting to turn against the popular pugilist. His last defeat came quickly and against an opponent most expected him to defeat, and subsequently it really highlighted Holland’s issues. Plain and simple, he has to focus up and get serious if he’s to save his UFC career.

This Saturday (March 22, 2025), he’ll square off opposite Gunnar Nelson on the main card of UFC London in his Welterweight return. It’s really a do-or-die moment, an opportunity to assure fans he still has gas in the tank or walk away with his career in a truly precarious position.

Let’s look back over his seven year, 20-fight UFC career and see just how we landed in this strange position:

Welcome To UFC (2018-2019)

Holland joined UFC’s roster off a successful Contenders Series victory at 13-3 as a professional, already holding a victory Geoff Neal. He accepted a short-notice bout against Thiago Santos — still at the top of his game, pre-knee injury — and was beaten up for most of three rounds.

Many great fighters have joined the ranks by getting walloped on short-notice, but Holland showed some toughness and offensive potency in that debut loss. He rebounded with a trio of victories over John Phillips, Gerald Meerschaert and Alessio Di Chirico to prove himself a decent Middleweight at the minimum.

Unfortunately, a quick submission loss to Brendan Allen (watch highlights) ended any would-be hype for the moment.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Fighter of the Year? (2020)

Yep, 2020 remains the high water mark Holland’s UFC career. Fighting solely at 185 pounds, Holland rattled off five straight victories, including four knockouts. Not only were the wins respectable then, but several have aged extremely well.

Holland’s spectacular 2020 began with a 39-second knockout over the seemingly-indestructible Anthony Hernandez, who’s currently ranked No. 8 in the world at Middleweight and hasn’t lost a fight since. He followed it up by starching Joaquin Buckley, the current No. 6-ranked Welterweight contender, in a highlight reel performance.

A competitive decision win over Darren Stewart and quick finish over short-notice foe Charlie Ontiveros followed, setting Holland up for a jump in competition against perennial contender, Ronaldo Souza. “Jacare” seemed well-equipped to copy Allen and capitalize on Holland’s ground game, but Holland flipped the script, knocking out the Brazilian legend from his back in the very first round.

If you ever question Holland’s talent … it takes something special to stop “Fluffy,” Buckley and Souza in a calendar year.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

The Fall (2021)

Riding high on that five-fight win streak, it all fell apart for Holland within 12 months. Derek Brunson exposed his wrestling deficiencies, repeatedly dragging Holland to the mat and keeping him trapped on the canvas. Marvin Vettori copied that approach well, though both men were dinged on more than one occasion by that long right hand.

The issue seemed to be ring craft and size as much as technical wrestling. After consecutive losses (and a random “No Contest” vs. Kyle Daukaus), Holland announced that he was heading to 170 pounds, which seemed a solution to at least part of his issue.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

New Division, Different Problems (2022-2023)

Holland’s drop in weight didn’t hurt his punching power. He began his Welterweight start with finish victories over Alex Oliveira and Tim Means, proof that he could make the weight and still drop the hammer on his opposition.

UFC 279 was a bizarre evening, though, even for Holland’s standards. Originally booked to fight Daniel Rodriguez at 170 pounds, “Trailblazer” ended up in the cage versus Khamzat Chimaev on just 24-hour notice, back up at 185 pounds. I don’t think even the most ardent of Holland haters could blame him for losing that one …

His following bout versus Stephen Thompson, however? Holland shoulders a fair portion of the blame for that defeat. Several times, he had the opportunity to take top position against the karate master and instead opted to stand and trade … despite a broken hand! Predictably, it didn’t end well, and Holland’s corner eventually saved him after round four.

So, Holland’s unbeaten Welterweight run was over, but there aren’t many like “Wonderboy” on the roster. Holland bounced back quickly, stopping both Santiago Ponzinibbio and Michael Chiesa. The latter victory seemed to answer some questions about his Welterweight wrestling improvement, as he easily shucked off “The Maverick” and punished his desperation to wrestle.

Sadly, the year closed without any momentum, as Holland coughed up a split decision to Jack Della Maddalena. It wasn’t a bad performance though, considering the Australian’s boxing prowess and general hype. “JDM” is fighting for a title shortly, so a split decision to a top contender isn’t too damning of a defeat.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC

The Aimless Decline (2024-Now)

Somebody on team Kevin Holland should have told their boy that Michael Page was a bad match up for him. Absolutely nobody has looked good on the feet against “MVP,” and Holland had the unfortunate job of proving the point in Page’s Octagon debut. The clear-cut loss was Holland’s first at Welterweight that couldn’t be excused away at all. No blaming bad Fight IQ, no split decision debate, no short-notice weight swapping — he just got beat.

Holland’s unfortunate response was to jump back up to Middleweight. He was rewarded with a quick win over Michal Oleksiejczuk, who knocked him down then fell directly into an armbar because the Polish puncher has no idea how to grapple after most of a decade on UFC’s roster.

Afterward, it’s been grim. Holland suffered an injury in a defeat to Roman Dolidze, but he was getting soundly out-wrestled by the obviously bigger man. Then, he stepped into the cage versus Reinier de Ridder, who had just went life-and-death versus Gerald Meerschaert in his own UFC debut.

“RDR” trounced him. Cracked him, took him down, choked him out. Made it look easy. There’s no evidence that de Ridder is particularly good at the UFC level other than the fact that he ran over Holland. Holland lost via first-round finish to an unranked Middleweight despite theoretically being in his prime.

That’s not good!

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Looking Forward

Holland’s career isn’t over. He’s back at Welterweight, which feels like the correct move. Though his best run came at 185 pounds, Holland doesn’t have the same hard ceiling at Welterweight. His wrestling has held up well at 170, and Holland cracks hard enough to stun just about anyone.

On the feet, he’ll always have a chance.

Nelson represents both Holland’s past flaws and a winnable match up. Nelson has the karate-style movement that Page and Thompson used to trouble Holland, and he also has the jiu-jitsu to jump his back and choke him out. Conversely, he’s quite hittable and doesn’t fight often. A small Welterweight, he’ll be facing major physical disadvantages versus Holland.

In short, it feels like a perfect test. If Holland is locked in and taking his career seriously, he should be able to win. If not, Nelson is going to run him over and hand him his third straight defeat.

“Trailblazer” has earned enough UFC goodwill for another opportunity either way, but the stakes are plenty high in London.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC London fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” undercard bouts at 1 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining main card balance on ESPN+ at 4 p.m. ET.

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