Like it or not, weight-cutting is deeply rooted in mixed martial arts. MMA adopted its weight-cutting from the sport of wrestling, where it is presumed to be very advantageous to be the biggest and strongest in your weight class. Known as the ‘fight before the fight,’ most UFC fighters cut anywhere from 5-25 pounds, with some fighters even in excess of 30 pounds.
Weight-cutting is the ultimate test of discipline and willpower. Many fighters in the sport consider it very unprofessional to miss weight.
In this series, we will shine a light on select fighters who cut a massive amount of weight, who have missed weight multiple times in the past, who have made weight-class changes, along with how the weight-cut and weigh-in could affect possible upcoming match-ups. Basically, every aspect of weight-cutting and how it affects the fight game.
Kevin Holland (21-7, 1 NC MMA, 8-4, 1 NC, UFC)
Welterweight (170lbs.): 5-1 (MMA), Missed weight 2x outside of UFC
Catchweight (175lbs.): 0-1 (MMA)
Middleweight (185lbs.): 8-4, 1 NC (UFC), 1-0 (DWCS), 6-1 (MMA)
Catchweight (195lbs): 1-0 (MMA)
Kevin Holland has been one of the most exciting fighters on the UFC’s roster in recent memory.
Holland has competed in the middleweight division for the entirety of his UFC career including his fight on the Contender Series back in 2018.
Holland is a great striker and is exceptionally long for the middleweight division (6’3″ tall, 81″ reach). Holland, ever the showman, brings boundless energy into his fights and is known for his excessive, hilarious, trash talk within the cage.
Part of the reason that Holland has so much energy in the cage is thanks to the fact that he doesn’t have to cut much weight to get down to the 185lb weight class. Key words: Part of, because Kevin’s personality will still be present at 170lbs.
As a matter of fact, Holland has weighted in at 183.5lbs. or lower in each of his last four UFC fights, even though he could have weighed up to 186lbs. And in a sport where literally every ounce matters, that’s a lot of weight to give up going into a fist fight with another professional athlete.
Holland has prior experience with cutting down to the welterweight division, with his last fight in the weight class coming in 2017. Holland has six fights at 170lbs, and though he has definitely missed weight in the division in the past, it was a very long time ago (5+ years).
Now 29 years old, fans should keep a close eye on Kevin Holland as he turns a major corner in his professional fight career. The 15lb jump between 185lbs and 170lbs is one of the most unforgiving in the sport and Kevin will be one of the higher profile fighters making the move down so his performance in the cage and before hand, on the scale, will be under intense scrutiny.
This week for WCC there are a few fighters that just missed the cut:
Honorable mentions this week are Jorge Masvidal, a long time lightweight, now a welterweight with an abundance of success in his newer division. Renato Moicano who began his UFC career at featherweight and has since moved up to the lightweight division. And Edson Barboza who was a long time staple of the lightweight division before shocking the MMA community and moving down to the featherweight division deep in his pro career.
