Kevin Holland Gives Green Light to Joining Jon Jones’ Boxing Promotion After UFC Retirement

They don’t make ’em like Kevin Holland anymore. The UFC superstar comes from the Donald Cerrone, fight-anyone-anytime-anywhere school of fighting, and does so at two different weight classes to boot. Not worried about titles or necessarily even winning, Holland just fights for the love of the sport and the handsome checks he gets.

‘Trailblazer’, who turns 33 this year, is still pretty young and has at least a few good years left in him where he can compete at a high level in the UFC. And guess what, even after he retires from the UFC, Holland plans to continue fighting, but in a fledgling sport pioneered by Jon Jones and Mike Perry— Dirty Boxing.

“Anytime you see Dirty Boxing, I’m all about it. I’ve seen Yoel Romero throwing a Superman punch. I’ve always thought they should be able to throw Superman punches in boxing, you know what I mean–spinning back fists and stuff like that. Little clinch, little uppercut. I’m fascinated by it, brother,” Holland told Mike Perry on the latter’s ‘Overdogs’ podcast.

Which prompted Perry, the co-owner (along with Jon Jones) of the Dirty Boxing Championship promotion, to make a bold offer to the UFC star. “Maybe you and me can fight in there?” ‘Platinum’ asked. To which Holland surprisingly agreed, but with one caveat. “Yeah, I gotta get done with my mixed martial arts career first. [As] soon as I’m done with that, I’d definitely love to throw hands with people,” Perry said.

The rules in dirty boxing are different from standard boxing rules, with the focus being on delivering action packed strike-fests to fans. The ring is smaller, the 4 oz gloves lighter than boxing gloves, and fighters are allowed to throw the full gamut of strikes with their hands.

Elbows, Superman punches, open palm strikes, spinning back fists– all are allowed in dirty boxing. No wonder Holland, who loves to strike, is attracted to the sport. But for now, the UFC fans have nothing to worry about, as Holland looks set for another entertaining clash with a ranked welterweight star.

Kevin Holland to take on Vicente Luque at UFC 316

Kevin Holland is set to face the ever-exciting Vicente Luque at UFC 316 on June 7. Luque, of course, is ranked #14 in the welterweight division, and is hoping to fight for the title soon. And yet, he has agreed to fight ‘Trailblazer’, who is unranked at the moment, and nowhere near the title picture. How will that help the Brazilian welterweight make his way up the division?

Well, Luque addressed that very question in a recent interview, pointing to ‘Trailblazer’s sheer star power and popularity among fans as the reason he agreed to fight him. “It’s one of the fights to get me back to the top… It’s not easy to get a ranked opponent right now, and I don’t want to wait… He’s a guy that everyone is backing and supporting and I think it’s a fight that brings the hype… That’s my goal to get back to that top five and get back to the title picture,” Luque told ‘MMA Junkie’.

There aren’t many stars in the UFC at the moment, especially not unranked ones. But Holland, because of his sheer warrior spirit and willingness to throw down on the shortest of notices, is a star whom fans love to watch. Especially because you know Holland always comes to fight and genuinely tries to entertain the fans. Which is why if Dirty Boxing Championship is indeed able to snag him, even a few years down the line, they would guarantee at least some of the MMA fans would be interested in watching Holland fight there. What do your think about Kevin Holland’s

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