Kevin Holland looking to fight Stephen Thompson or Daniel Rodriguez following ‘grappling loss’ to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279

By Rami J. Hanna Last updated Sep 12, 2022

Mar 30, 2019; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Kevin Holland smiles between rounds in his fight against Gerald Meerschaert (not pictured) during UFC Fight Night at Wells Fargo Arena. Holland won the fight. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Despite the co-main event loss to Khamzat Chimaev, that isn’t stopping the ‘Trailblazer’ from calling for his next fight.

“Guys, I lost an amazing grappling match last night — I mean fight, my bad,” Holland said on Instagram. “Chimaev is one hell of an athlete. Still going to be talking s*** cause you know who I am.”

Originally, Holland was scheduled to face Daniel Rodriguez in a 180-pound catchweight bout, which came together just weeks before the event was scheduled to take place.

Rodriguez ended up earning a split decision win over Li Jingliang in a razor-close fight on Saturday.

Now as he looks to wash the bad taste of defeat out of his mouth, Holland would love the chance to book at least one more fight before 2022 is over with hopes that he could a more favorable matchup than taking on a dominant grappler like Chimaev on ultra-short notice.

“Hate to end the year like this so I’d love to go in there against a striker,” Holland said. “I don’t know if I’m still deserving of a ‘Wonderboy’ [Stephen Thompson] fight. I’d love a ‘Wonderboy’ fight and if not a ‘Wonderboy’ fight, D-Rod [Daniel Rodriguez], we were all the way on task to getting it done. We had to switch it up to save the card.

“Maybe we can get something nice and get it going and collect another check before the end of the year.”

You can listen to all of Bodyslam’s podcasts by following us on Spotify and subscribing to our YouTube Channel, or any of your favorite podcast platforms.

Follow me on Twitter: @WhoElseButRami
Follow us on Twitter: @BodyslamNet