Las Vegas, NV — UFC welterweight Kevin Holland jumps into something of a short notice fight this Saturday at UFC 279.
But while his match-up with Daniel Rodriguez was a late addition to the PPV card, Holland (23-7, 1NC) is just happy to be staying busy. “I don’t like to sit at home and as I say, warm the bench for everybody else to come out here and do their thing. I like to stay active,” Holland told media outlets including Cageside Press during Wednesday’s UFC 279 media day.
The fight comes at a 180lb catchweight, something that was requested by Holland’s opponent. Not that he minds. “I fought at 85, I fought at 70. I fought at 96 before. It’s like, I walk around at 192lbs, so that tells you a lot. I don’t really care about a weight class. I don’t really care about any of that stuff. I just want to show up, I just want to fight, and beat the brakes off somebody.”
Topping the card are Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev, two of the top names in the welterweight division. Holland has had his own past run-in with “Borz,” though he claims there’s no issue with the undefeated fighter.
“I don’t have an issue with anybody on the roster. If anybody has an issue with me, that’s their problem. I ain’t got an issue with nobody on the roster.”
That said, Holland added that he’ll tell you how he feels about anyone on the roster. And he told the media exactly how he felt about Chimaev.
“I feel like he likes the f*cking media. I feel like he only does this extra wannabe street sh*t when the media’s around,” Holland exclaimed. “Other than that, he doesn’t do it. When you guys aren’t around, he wants to do fist bumps and he wants to be your best friend. When you guys are around, then all of a sudden he’s like ‘arrgh I’m going to rip your f*cking head off!’ He ain’t ripping sh*t off dog, let’s be real. He want a paycheck just like the rest of these guys around here.”
As for Chimaev’s fight against Diaz, Holland believes Khamzat should come away victorious. “He should win, on paper.”
Watch the full UFC 279 media day appearance by Kevin Holland above.
