Kevin Holland’s ambitious 2025 campaign came to a rough end at UFC Vancouver and he’s not getting much sympathy from Luke Rockhold.
The former UFC middleweight champion was asked about Holland’s recent loss, which saw him struck twice below the belt by Mike Malott before losing a second consecutive unanimous decision, and Rockhold isn’t sure if Holland was as affected by the low blows as he made it look.
“It wasn’t really in the balls,” Rockhold said on the JAXXON podcast. “I just watched that fight, I literally just watched it, and that was borderline, like, barely touching you. If you’re wearing a cup, that doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt that bad. All love for Kevin, but there’s a lot going into that and it wasn’t exactly necessary.”
Holland was given plenty of time to recover after Malott hit him in the groin, which was likely of little consolation, especially since referee Dan Miragliotta decided against taking a point. All Holland could do was rest and regain his bearings, with a no-contest likely in the cards if he was unable to continue.
If Holland was embellishing the foul, Rockhold wonders what would motivate him to do so.
“I don’t know, maybe his balls are just really big or something,” Rockhold said. “A little higher up? There’s a lot going into this. … You should just not fight or fight. Really, that’s what it comes down to. He took five minutes and 30 seconds then he went into the fight and he was still grabbing his balls for the rest of the minute. Then he went into the next round, it’s like he just kept going.”
Holland stated at the beginning of 2025 that his plan was to fight six times this calendar year. He recently admitted he does not expect to be booked to fight in November or December, so he’ll fall short of his goal with a 2-3 mark over the past 10 months.
As critical as Rockhold is of Holland, he admits to enjoying Holland’s antics.
“You never know what’s going to come out of Kevin Holland’s mouth,” Rockhold said. “You’ve got to appreciate him. He’s an entertainer.”
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