AUSTIN, Texas – Kevin Holland wants to keep being a company man after his latest victory at UFC on ESPN 37.
Holland (23-7 MMA, 9-4 UFC) moved to 2-0 since dropping to the welterweight division on Saturday when he defeated Tim Means (32-13-1 MMA, 14-10 UFC) by second-round submission in a co-main event matchup at Moody Center. It was a strong performance from him, and UFC president Dana White said Holland can do “whatever he wants” going forward.
There isn’t anything specific Holland is looking to demand at this point, though. If he’s forced to pick a name, however, he said he’s willing to oblige to the undefeated Sean Brady (15-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who recently said his name.
“I really don’t care,” Holland told MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight at UFC on ESPN 37. “Sean Brady called my name. So if they want me to fight Sean Brady, I’ll take Sean Brady. It’s whatever the UFC wants. If they want me to fight a f*cking whale, I’ll fight a whale. If they want me to fight a pig, I’ll fight a pig. They want me to fight my own chicken, I’ll go down there and fight my own chicken. It’s whatever you guys want.”
Holland’s complete effort in his win against Means was one of the best of his career. He looked sharp offensive and defensively, and managed to finish the job with a D’Arce choke the moment the opportunity presented itself.
For Holland, it was the perfect way to get his hand raised.
“You’ve seen my shirts, right? ‘Choke your chicken,’” Holland said. “It’s a little more satisfying. I wanted to choke. I choked the chicken, so the videos of the chicken being choked, the shirts of the chicken being choked. Now you’ve got a highlight video of the chicken being choked. Still, big shout out to Tim Means. He’s an OG. He’s a veteran, and it was probably one of my funnest fights of my life going in there with Tim Means. So I had a good time.”
During the course of the less than seven-minute fight, Holland and Means looked to enjoy themselves as they exchanged strikes and words, too. Holland said the in-cage conversation was largely playful, and that’s because he holds Means in high regard.
“I hit him with a good shot and I’m like, ‘Damn, you’re freaking tough,’” Holland said. “And he was like, ‘Yeah, I can do this all night.’ So then I started thinking about the Captain America movie where he was like, ‘I can do this all night.’ So it’s just little things. I went to stomp on the thigh. Usually I would go for the knee. I told him I would avoid the knee and he said he wold do the same. So overall, just good stuff. I got up one time and I was like, ‘Pretty good, huh?’ and he was like, ‘Not bad, kid.’ So just Tim being a freaking OG that he is.”
