Kevin Holland has reportedly stepped in to stop another crime. A post on Reddit’s r/MMA early Monday, Nov. 2, carried a title saying Holland had once again stopped crime. It drew the predictable flood of comments from a fanbase that has apparently accepted Holland’s moonlighting as a neighborhood watch program. The post itself offered nothing beyond that headline. There’s no location, no description of the crime and no word from police or from Holland. Until somebody with a badge, or Holland himself, fills in the blanks, treat this as a report.
The key words in that title are the ones saying this has happened before. Nobody on that forum seemed surprised, which tells you plenty about Holland’s reputation outside the cage. For most fighters, a story like this would be a one-off curiosity. With Holland, it gets filed under recurring segment.
Inside the Octagon, the most recent result in front of me is his unanimous decision win over Randy Brown at UFC 327 in April. Brown was a solid, long welterweight with a 78-inch reach and 74% takedown defense going into that fight, so the win carried real weight. Yahoo Sports’ preview of UFC Vegas 123 even called the Holland loss the less understandable entry on Brown’s recent ledger, the one that didn’t fit where both men stood on the ladder. Brown had dropped three of his last four heading into his Oct. 31 co-main against unbeaten Jacobe Smith, with Holland handing him one of those losses.
That’s where Holland’s name keeps popping up. Smith, who came into UFC Vegas 123 at 13-0 and 4-0 in the UFC with four finishes, told Uncrowned he was originally supposed to fight Holland on the White House card. He said Brown was the guy helping him prepare for Holland, giving him sparring rounds. So the prospect who sat as a -245 favorite against Brown had already built a camp around Holland, and the veteran on the other side of the cage had helped him do it. Smith also said a win over Brown should land him a ranked opponent, and he’s been loud about wanting to climb fast.
The sources don’t say what’s next for Holland on the fight calendar, and I’m not going to invent a booking. I’ll tell you what I’d want, though. Smith already prepped for him once. Smith told MMA Fighting he wants a top-15 opponent next. Holland beat the guy Smith just fought. If the matchmakers can’t see that one sitting on the table, I’d like to know what they’re looking at.
My take: I’ve lost money on worse premises than Kevin Holland walking into trouble and walking out the hero. At this point the man’s off-duty win streak is cleaner than half the parlays in my inbox. I’d still like a police report before I lay any juice on the details. Monday’s post is a headline. When the full story shows up, I’ll trust the paperwork over the comment section, and I’ll keep my eye on the Smith rebooking, which actually comes with odds.
