What MMA fighter wouldn’t want an opportunity to fight inside the UFC, the world’s leading mixed martial arts promotion? The answer for that question would be no other than rising star, Kevin Holland, months before his eventual UFC debut.
As a guest on The Fitz Nation podcast, hosted by UFC commentator, Brendan Fitzgerald, Holland spoke out on his mindset in his pre-UFC days. Suprisingly, Holland initially didn’t like the idea of fighting in the promotion. The reason? USADA and their rules and regulations on Marijuana usage at the time.
“Trailblazer” went as far as underperforming in his Contender Series appearance to avoid getting a UFC contract, all on purpose. This fight against Will Santiago Jr. would mark his first decision win of his career.
“My game plan was not the finish Santiago.” Holland told Fitzgerald. “Sounds stupid, right? That was my first fight ever that I was going to win by decision as a pro. I didn’t want the contract, you know from my understanding that I didn’t want to deal with USADA.”
“[Because of] weed?” asked Fitzgerald.
“Yeah.” Holland replied. “I was like man if I can’t smoke weed, then I’m not gonna do this.”
The 5-0 pro in 2020 would go on to realize that he could inhibit Marijuana in some cases, even with the UFC Anti-Doping policy.
“Oh, no, it’s in competition and out of competitions… two totally different things and I was just so dumb. I was like, I’m gonna stay local. I’m gonna wait till I get a little older, maybe I’ll mature a little bit and I won’t need to smoke.”
“It all makes sense now!” exclaimed Fitzgerald. “You were not chasing the finish. You’re trash talking, you’re just sitting back and you were just like no big deal. I’ll cash that check and I was like, what is he doing?”
Months after his showing on Contender Series, “Big Mouth” (a nickname given to Holland by Dana White) would be offered a short-notice fight with then-middleweight contender, Thiago Santos. He would go on to lose this fight by unanimous decision. His heart displayed at UFC 227 would go on to impress the UFC boss.
Holland would go on to win 8 out of his 9 next fights, 5 of those being in 2020. He broke the record to become the fastest UFC fighter ever to reach 5 victories in a calendar year, and in an astonishing 7 months at that. A superstar was born.
“I’m glad I am where I am.” said Holland. “Oh God. I got to fight five times last year, please, please, please. Let me fight four to six times a year. I want to be able to say I had a hundred fights one day.”
Looks like Kevin Holland won’t have to worry about USADA anymore, since recent changes of the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy on Marijuana have emerged.