Kevin Holland has responded to UFC middleweight Joseph Holmes (Ugly Man Joe), who late Friday claimed to have been jumped by Holland and members of his entourage.
Not surprisingly, Holland had a very different recollection of the events that transpired at XKO 60, a regional MMA show at The Statler in Dallas, TX.
In a video statement on Instagram, Holland explained that “Last night we’re at the XKO fights having a good time, enjoying ourselves, we were on our way out. Of course I seen Ugly Man Joe, not gonna deny that. He was walking up the stairs, I was walking down the stairs. He didn’t want to walk to the other side of the stairs where the guy that he was beefing with was, so he walked up my side of the stairs.”
Holland added that he was going to move, and told Holmes to “chill out.”
“Like I was gonna move, I was like ‘bro, chill out.’ As soon as I put my hand up to say ‘chill out,’ he grabbed me. Soon as he grabbed me, we almost went flying down the stairs. Quick reactions, neither one of us fell over. By the time I went to fix my coat, I don’t know what happened.”
Holland says he doesn’t remember some of the physicality Holmes claimed happened. “All I remember is him getting in a fight, and me breaking it up. Sounds good, that’s the part of the story that sticks. All that other stuff that’s going on, that’s drama that you have with another man. That’s between you and another man. Don’t put me in it, dog. Don’t use my name for clout, don’t put me in your B.S. When we got outside, I told you straight up — if you want to fight me, you can fight with me. We got gyms. You said tell the UFC to send a contract, I doubt the UFC’s going to send you a contract. So if you want to spar, you can spar me at my gym.”
Holland also took offense at Holmes sharing snippets of his brother on social media, calling him a clown. “So of course I’m going to tag you and let you know. If you want to come to my gym and spar for $20,000, I will give you a chance to make $20,000. You asked the kid for $20 to get inside your live feed, so here I am, offering you $20,000 to spar me.”
And while Holland has been recuperating from injuries sustained in his fight with Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, he appears game for any sort of gym challenge that might arise from this feud. “[Let me] remind you, hand’s still a little beat up, but I’m good with one hand, and I’m good with my other legs, and I’ve got elbows. If you don’t want elbows because we’re in the gym, I think we can wear pads so it’s not too gruesome. If you don’t like that, we can do old school Muay Thai rules, ground rules, whatever you want to do, bro,” Holland said, addressing Holmes. “Whatever makes you feel better, I’m cool with that, because at the end of the day, we’re martial artists. But getting online and crying about getting in a fight with somebody when you’re a fighter makes no f*cking sense. Get over it bro.”
Holland is currently scheduled to face Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 287 in April.
