Kevin Holland claims he was first in line for Nick Diaz's comeback fight, explains why he turned it down
Kevin Holland has revealed he was offered the chance to fight Nick Diaz in his comeback fight before the UFC finalized the matchup with Vicente Luque.
Holland explained during a media day interview for UFC 302 that the UFC approached him with the Diaz fight, but the timing didn't work for him:
“I was supposed to take a fight at 170 against a pretty big-name opponent. But they said he wasn’t going to be able to fight until August and I said, ‘Damn, that’s a long time.’ And they’re like, ‘Bro, it’s only an extra month.’ And I was like, ‘Nah, that’s too long,' So I got this, and I’m happy with it. I guess that [othe] fight is not going to circle back because I see he just got booked, so let’s see what happens after.” [H/t: MMA Junkie]
Catch Kevin Holland's appearance at UFC 302 media day below:
Holland will instead face Michal Oleksiejczuk on the upcoming UFC 302 card on June 1. Nick Diaz will look to reignite his career against Luque on August 3 in Abu Dhabi.
Kevin Holland backs Islam Makhachev for future welterweight title
Kevin Holland declared Islam Makhachev a shoo-in for future welterweight champion status, even calling him a more dangerous threat than former lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Holland heaped praise on Makhachev's well-rounded skillset. Makhachev, currently dominating the lightweight division with 13 straight wins, recently secured back-to-back title defenses with a knockout victory over Alexander Volkanovski.
Prior to his upcoming fight at UFC 302, Holland spoke to the media about Makhachev's impressive skillset:
"[Makhachev would be] champ, for sure, for sure. I think Khabib [Nurmagomedov] could have did the same thing if he wanted to. So yeah, for sure...And I think Islam's [Makhachev] probably a little bit more scarier to deal with...He knocked out 'Volk'...I don't think an easy person to put away...Scary, scary guy right there."
Check out Kevin Holland's comments below: