Dana White comments on Kevin Holland retiring after the Khamzat fight!

UFC president Dana White has commented on 29-year-old Kevin Holland‘s decision to retire from MMA.

“Trailblazer” Holland was originally scheduled to face off against Daniel Rodriguez at UFC 279, but after Khamzat Chimaev missed weight ahead of the event the promotion had to scramble to put together a new fight card. Holland ended up drawing the shortest straw, challenging Khamzat on no notice. “Borz” dominated Holland with his grappling before choking him out with a D’arce in the first round. It was a bitter loss for the 29-year-old talent, however Holland claims to have made a lot of money on the fight. So much so that he recently hinted at retiring from the sport.

“Had a good run,” Holland said on Instagram. “30 in a little over a month. Got paid. I’m out. Next career choice?”

White believes that the decision to retire was an emotional one, and doesn’t believe that it’s the right time for Holland to leave the sport.

“You know I’m really close to this kid and I like him a lot,” White said during the pressconference after this week’s DWCS event. “And I think when you are competing in a sport like this and you’ve done the things that Kevin Holland has done, you know, he gets out of the fight with (Derek) Brunson and realises that he needs to work on his wrestling more, so he dives in and starts working on his wrestling.”

“And I think when what happens to him happens to you, I don’t know, I think you lay in bed at night and go, ‘Holy shit, how did that happen to me?’ And, you know, he’s an emotional guy, so I think his emotions got the best of him. Just take some time, get back in the gym. Whatever he wants to do, obviously… I love the kid, whatever he wants to do he can do. But, I think retiring – it’s a little too soon for him to retire.”

Holland has maintained that he’s retiring on Instagram, and whether fans will get to see him fight in the octagon again is still unclear. The fan favourite set a new record for most UFC wins in a calendar year when he racked up five straight wins in 2020. Holland went on to suffer two straight losses against top grapplers in middleweight, Brunson and Marvin Vettori, before moving down to welterweight. Although wrestling has been Holland’s kryptonite in previous fights, nobody has ever managed to do what Khamzat did to him at UFC 279!