“I never enjoy the status of sitting at home, two [losses], six months, not fighting…it sucks. But the wrestling had to be worked on and the wrestling has been worked on. So now we get to go back, answer some questions and hopefully stir up some new ones.”
To work on that wrestling, Holland paired himself with an unlikely ally: former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks. Largely absent from the MMA sphere since his retirement, Hendricks was keen on helping a fellow Texan march closer to a championship.
“We went to Hendrickstan,” Holland says, as he affectionately dubbed their training sessions. “Everything clicks when you’re in Hendrickstan. You’re just wrestling so everything clicks together. I had a really, really good time. We focused on not getting taken down, we didn’t focus on taking people down.”
The Next Step For Casey O’Neill
If you thought Kevin Holland couldn’t possibly become more confident, think again.
“I hear all these people talking ‘Can you really learn wrestling in six months?’ Shut the f*** up. I’m a f****** athlete, I can learn whatever. I’ll keep growing. If they don’t think I’ve grown enough now, wait until I’m done.”
Armed with his new weapons, Holland now turns his sights to Kyle Daukaus, his opponent in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night: Santos vs Holland. In the 10-2 Daukaus, Holland not only sees a game opponent, but an exemption from his “venom” list.
“I think Kyle Daukaus is a wonderful opponent. I think the Daukaus family is a great family. I’m looking forward to doing some fun, fun things in there, but mad respect to the Daukaus family. I think the big brother is probably the better athlete, I think he’s phenomenally fast for a heavyweight. I think Kyle is good fighter as well, very tough, very durable. He has the ability to go forward. Kyle is a great guy, but at the end of the day, he’s stepping into a league he’s really not ready for yet.”
