Kevin Holland just put pen to paper on a new UFC contract, and in the same breath he told everyone it’s his last one.
The 34-year-old said in an interview with Full Send MMA that he has no plans to keep fighting past his 36th birthday. He’ll work through the new deal, and then he’s out.
“I’m 34 years old,” Holland said. “I didn’t plan on doing mixed martial arts past 36. If I had to stay til 37, that’d be great.”
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He was just as direct about the paperwork. “We’re almost done, 100%,” he said, adding, “I got a nice new contract, and I guarantee you, it won’t take me long to get through it.”
The reason has a name and a gym attached. Holland said his little brother fights now, and he called him his favorite fighter to watch. He also said he’s got a whole gym to run, and he made it clear he has no interest in spending his remaining years as a measuring stick for young prospects who want to grind out three rounds against a name. His job description, in his own words: “I’m here to put on fun fights for the fans, collect a good check, and just stay out of the way.”
That’s about as honest a contract-year interview as you’ll hear. No talk of legacy. No title run fantasy. A guy who knows what he is and what he wants out of the back end of his career.
Medic first
Before any of that, Holland has a Saturday night problem at Madison Square Garden. He meets Serbian knockout artist Uros Medic at UFC 334, and Medic’s recent fights barely qualify as fights in the traditional sense. None of his last six have gone past two minutes, whether he won or lost. Somebody is getting picked up off the canvas early, and nobody, Medic included, seems to know in advance who.
Medic apparently isn’t treating it like a farewell tour either. A boxingnews.com headline this week had him saying Holland’s time has already passed, which is a bold thing to say to a man who just told the world he has a two-year plan.
This will be Holland’s second fight of 2026. He’s 1-0 on the year after beating Randy Brown in a welterweight bout at UFC 327 on April 11 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. That’s a quiet schedule by his standards. In 2025, “Trailblazer” fought five times and went 2-3.
Quick take
When Holland says it won’t take him long to get through a contract, believe him. This is the guy who took five fights in a single calendar year, and the UFC has never had to beg him to show up. A fighter who answers retirement questions straight, names his exit age, and then signs up to stand in front of a guy whose last six fights averaged less time than a commercial break is exactly the kind of fighter I’ll miss. The countdown to 36 starts Saturday at MSG, and if Medic’s track record holds, we’ll know how the first leg of it went before most people get back from the concession stand.
