Kevin Holland to fight on Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier card on three weeks' notice
Kevin Holland is set to return to the octagon on short notice. Holland will face Michal Oleksiejczuk in a middleweight matchup at UFC 302 on June 1 in Newark, New Jersey.
The fight was announced during the recent UFC on ESPN 56 broadcast. This will be Holland's first fight at middleweight since 2021.
Check out Kevin Holland's announcement below:
Holland is coming off back-to-back decision losses at welterweight to Jack Della Maddalena and Michael Page. However, before those setbacks, he had strung together two impressive victories by stoppage over Santiago Ponzinibbio and Michael Chiesa, with the latter earning him a performance bonus at UFC 291. Holland currently holds a fight record of 25 wins and 11 losses so far.
On the other hand, Oleksiejczuk will be looking to bounce back from a quick submission defeat to Michel Pereira at UFC 299. The Polish fighter aims to avoid a losing streak after securing a first-round TKO win in August 2023. 'Hussar' currently has 19 wins and seven losses in his fight record.
This adds to a stacked UFC 302 lineup headlined by the lightweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier. The co-main event features former middleweight king Sean Strickland against Paulo Costa.
Other notable fighters include the return of heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida, middleweight prospects Roman Kopylov and Roman Dolidze, and welterweight contenders Randy Brown and Niko Price. The card also features the flyweight debut of Andre Lima and the return of Mickey Gall.
Check out the matchups announced so far:
Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier (main event- lightweight title belt)
Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa (co-main event- middleweight)
Kevin Holland vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (middleweight)
Randy Brown vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (welterweight)
Roman Kopylov vs. Cesar Almeida (middleweight)
Roman Dolidze vs. Anthony Hernandez (middleweight)
Tatsuro Taira vs. Joshua Van (flyweight)
HyunSung Park vs. Andre Lima (flyweight)
Niko Price vs. Alex Morono (welterweight)
Jailton Almeida vs. Alexander Romanov (heavyweight)
Mickey Gall vs. Bassil Hafez (welterweight)
Phil Rowe vs. Jake Matthews (welterweight)
Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki (lightweight)
Ailin Perez vs. Joselyne Edwards (women's bantamweight)