Kevin Holland isn’t used to layoffs in the UFC, but six months after he suffered his second loss in a row, “The Trailblazer” will finally make his return to the cage.
At the UFC Fight Night event on Oct. 2, Holland (21-7 MMA, 8-4 UFC) will take on former CFFC middleweight champion Kyle Daukaus at a location and venue to-be-announced, pending bout finalization.
Two people with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. MMA Fighting first reported the targeted booking.
After a stellar 2020 campaign, Holland opened up 2021 with back-to-back losses against top contenders Derek Brunson and Marvin Vettori. The defeats, which both occurred in the span of three weeks, played out in the same manner – with Holland unable to stop takedowns.
Since the losses, Holland has gone back to the drawing board with a focus on is takedown defense and wrestling. While he has not switched camps, he’s traveled to California to train with Daniel Cormier and completed a few sessions at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA).
Daukaus (10-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC), a Dana White’s Contender Series alumnus, made his promotional debut in June 2020 when he lost a short-notice fight to Brendan Allen via unanimous decision. In his sophomore outing at UFC 255 in November, Daukaus defeated Dustin Stoltzfus via unanimous decision. In May, Dauakus was handed his second unanimous decision loss in the UFC when he was defeated by Phil Hawes.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for Oct. 2 includes:
- Thiago Santos vs. Johnny Walker
- Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira
- Jared Gordon vs. Joe Solecki
- Bethe Correia vs. Karol Rosa
- Fernando Padilla vs. Sean Soriano
- Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Gaetano Pirrello
- Kyle Daukaus vs. Kevin Holland