"That’s just how it goes down" - When Kevin Holland had to put down Conor McGregor's 'Proper 12' ahead of fight against SBG's John Phillips
Kevin Holland had to fight a Conor McGregor teammate previously, and this caused him to make some lifestyle changes.
This was Holland's sophomore UFC fight after previously punching his ticket on Contender Series but losing his debut to eventual UFC light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos at UFC 227.
This was when Holland was more actively competing at middleweight and was lined up for a fight at UFC Beijing in November 2018. Holland playfully admitted at the time that he had enjoyed a lot of Proper Twelve Irish Whiskey since it was initially released.
'Big Mouth' was talking about how he and his boys had switched from drinking Jameson to McGregor's adult beverage. However, he mentioned switching back to Jameson when this fight with SBG Ireland compatriot of 'The Notorious' John Phillips was locked in at that time.
When addressing the SBG components of briefly changing up his whiskey preferences, Holland spoke to MMA Fighting and said:
"That’s just how it goes down.”
Holland stated he posted a photo of the smashed Proper 12 bottle on social media for clout and that he'd like to enjoy a sip with McGregor in the event he were to come out to be there for Phillips during that fight years back. In the same referenced interview, Holland stated:
“We can drink Proper 12 the proper way. A good sip of Proper 12 with the proper man. That would be fantastic.”
It did not seem like any drinking took place with the champ champ. But Holland did win via rear naked choke within the final minute of his John Phillips matchup.
Peep another interview at this time where Kevin Holland talked Proper 12 below:
What is Kevin Holland's next octagon assignment?
Fast forward a few years since 2018, and Kevin Holland is now predominantly competing as a welterweight and has his next bout at 170 pounds set for this weekend.
The 31-year-old takes on promotional debutant Michael 'Venom' Page as part of the pay-per-view main card of UFC 299 in Miami, Florida. This all goes down on Saturday night, and the Kaseya Center will be filled with enthusiastic fight fans on March 9th.
Holland looks to rebound to the win column after having a two-fight stretch of finishes over Santiago Ponzinibbio and Michael Chiesa snapped. He fell to Jack Della Maddalena via split decision in their UFC Fight Night co-main event last September.
The California native looks to play spoiler to the massively hyped MVP as Page comes into this UFC debut after a highlight reel-laden run with Bellator MMA.