UFC 272’s Alex Oliveira: If Kevin Holland “Fights Like He Rides, He’s Going to Be In Trouble”

Las Vegas, NV — Brazil’s Alex Oliveira welcomes Kevin Holland to the welterweight division this weekend.

Their UFC 272 match-up is under the microscope due to it being Holland’s debut in the weight class, and Holland made sure the fight’s announcement got noticed. When the bout was first announced, Holland went as far as posting a video of himself on horseback, a nod to “Cowboy” Oliveira, who is a former rodeo bull rider.

“I think he was showing himself in the wrong sport, because that’s not for everybody. And if he fights like he rides, he’s going to be in trouble,” Oliveira said in response to the video during Wednesday’s UFC 272 media day.

“I’m not here to judge anybody, you guys saw how I used the horn. He doesn’t even know how to use his reigns. He doesn’t really know what he’s doing there,” Oliveira later added, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press. “So like I said, if he comes fighting like he horseback rides, he’s in a lot of trouble.”

In terms of Holland dropping a division, Oliveira noted that “coming down to welterweight, it’s a more dynamic division. I’ve been here for a while, he’s coming down. I hope he feels good, because I want to put on a great fight.”

Brazil’s “Cowboy” will enter Saturday’s fight on a three fight skid, and acknowledged that it’s an important fight for his career. With that in mind, you might expect him to go the obvious route, and test Holland’s takedown defense. But Oliveira suggested he wanted to stand and bang.

“I trained everything. I wrestled, I boxed, I did Muay Thai. I came here to bang with him, and fight,” he stated. And as for Holland’s patented trash talk, “I ain’t gonna listen to that sh*t,” Oliveira exclaimed. “I’m gonna go and bang.”

Watch the full UFC 272 media day appearance from Alex Oliveira above. The event takes place this Saturday, March 5, 2022 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. More coverage from the event can be found below.