When Kevin Holland expressed his distaste for Sean Strickland following altercation
Kevin Holland once had an intense rivalry with Sean Strickland that boiled over into an altercation at the UFC Performance Institute.
In 2022, Holland moved down from middleweight to welterweight and fought Alex ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira at UFC 272. Prior to the action-packed matchup, ‘Trailblazer’ sat down for a press conference interview at a different UFC event to discuss various topics.
Earlier in February 2022, Holland had an altercation with Strickland at the UFC Performance Institute. The two fighters had sparked a rivalry due to Strickland making threats on social media.
During the previously mentioned media interview, Holland detailed his run-in with Strickland at the UFC PI by saying:
“I’d seen him at the [UFC] PI. He said some stuff online about murdering me or something like that if we ecer gad a fight. So, when I’d seen him, I was just checking his energy. He said I had my chest poked out, but as you guys see me on camera all the time, I have a bird chest, it’s kind of hard to poke this thing out. So, I walked up to the man, and I wasn’t trying to say nothing to him. He was speaking to me like we were friends or something.”
Holland continued:
“I was just looking at him like he’s f*cking crazy. Then he said something stupid, so I probably said something stupid back. Little words got exchanged. He said something about going to the parking lot, but if I’m not mistaken, there’s a full-blow Octagon and boxing ring upstairs, and we can easily make it a sparring session so the UFC doesn’t lose money by someone getting their head bashed in the parking lot, just saying, hypothetically speaking here.”
Watch Kevin Holland’s throwback comments about Sean Strickland and more below:
When Kevin Holland proposed a ‘Welcome To Jail’ fight card featuring him vs. Sean Strickland
Sean Strickland was threatening fellow UFC fighters with wild claims before becoming the middleweight champion of the world. When it comes to Kevin Holland, Strickland mentioned several times that he could “take advantage of him” in a private prison cell.
During the previously mentioned media interview, Holland had this to say about testing Strickland’s theory:
“I’m figuring that the UFC is going to do a ‘Welcome To Jail’ card and then me and [Sean] Strickland are just going to lock it up like a real cage and a cell and see who takes who’s butt. You know what I’m saying. Yeah, why not?”
On March 9, Kevin Holland looks to bounce back in the welterweight division after suffering a split-decision loss against Jack Della Maddalena. To do so, Holland must get highly-touted promotional newcomer Michael ‘Venum’ Page, who previously fought under the Bellator banner.
The high-level strikers will meet inside the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, during the UFC 299 pay-per-view main card.