Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) resident loudmouth and fan favorite Kevin Holland returns to action at UFC 311 this weekend (Sat., Jan. 18, 2025) against former ONE Championship two-division champion-turned-UFC fighter Reinier de Ridder, which is set to go down inside the brand-new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California.
On paper, Holland vs. De Ridder sticks out like a sore thumb as an old-school UFC 1-style matchup between a grappler and a striker, and ultimately, that might be what it turns out to be.
Nevertheless, Holland’s motive is simple—to put on a show, as he tends to do, whether or not that includes listening to his coach, Bob Perez.
“[I’m looking at this fight the] same as any other fight, go in there and bang it out,” Holland told Demetrious Johnson. “Coaches have a game plan. They always have ideas on what I should do, and they’re usually right. It’s just a matter if go out there and implement that s—t. Hopefully, I’m in a listening mood when I go out there, but if not, I’ll give you guys what I always give you: a good scrap until it’s not.”
Holland, 32, is coming off a loss to Roman Dolizde, and he could not continue because of a nasty rib injury at UFC 307. Prior to that, he tapped Michal Oleksiejczuk, securing his eighth Performance of the Night.
On the flip side, De Ridder is coming off a sloppy win against Gerald Meerschaert in his UFC debut at UFC Vegas 100.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 311 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+/ESPNEWS “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
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