Kevin Holland reflects on his upcoming fight against Stephen Thompson and his brief retirement

Kevin Holland is thrilled to finally be receiving a matchup that he prefers in the UFC welterweight division.

During an interview with The Schmo, Kevin Holland mentioned that he is focused now that he's been booked against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson for the main event at UFC on ESPN 42. The bout takes place in Orlando, Florida, on December 3:

“I was sitting on the couch, I was chilling, I was in my retirement mode and they said I was going to fight ‘Wonderboy’ and I was like, ‘Alright, we’re locked back in.’ It was a wonderful thing. I was pretty happy to get something wonderful and magnificent like I asked for, so that’s nice.”

‘Trailblazer’ added that it’s refreshing to be matched up with a striker rather than a wrestler, which has been the case for him in his most recent fights:

“It was as simple as getting a contract for ‘Wonderboy’ and I was like, ‘Alight, something that I want.’ And it’s like I don’t have a problem with wrestlers, but you can give me a second off from being hugged and getting one of those plugs stuck in your butt the whole god***n time, so yeah I’m much happier with just a gold old striking battle, old school s**t for me. It’s what I like, it’s what I enjoy.”

Despite retiring following his loss to Khamzat Chimaev, Kevin Holland walked back on those plans as he was offered an appealing bout with a striker like Thompson. He will be looking to bounce back from his loss to Chimaev, which was a dominant performance.

Prior to his most recent loss to ‘Borz’, ‘Trailblazer’ was on a two-fight winning streak that saw him finish both his opponents. He defeated Alex Oliveira via second-round TKO and Tim Means via second-round submission and earned a Performance of the Night bonus after both wins.

Check out the full interview:

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Possible opponents for Kevin Holland at welterweight

Kevin Holland looked like he was starting to get into a great rhythm in the UFC welterweight division prior to accepting the short-notice fight against Khamzat Chimaev.

Now that Holland has a more favorable bout against Stephen Thompson, he has a great opportunity to ascend the welterweight rankings. He is currently unranked, so a big win against 'Wonderboy' (ranked No.6) could see him move into the top-10.

If 'Trailblazer' gets back into the rankings, he could be poised for bouts with the likes of Vicente Luque, Sean Brady, and Geoff Neal, which could then eventually get him into the welterweight title picture.