Kevin Holland aims for ‘easy’ six to seven UFC fights in 2025

LOS ANGELES – Kevin Holland plans to outdo himself in 2025.

Ahead of UFC 311, the promotion’s first pay-per-view event of the year and where he competes, Holland (26-12 MMA, 13-9 UFC) expects to have a very active year. One of the promotion’s most frequent fighters, Holland is looking to break the personal best he set in 2020 at five matches. He won them all.

“Ideally would be six times,” Holland told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight press conference Wednesday. “In 2020 we all know I didn’t have that many months to work and I still got a lot done that year. This year I’m starting really, really early as it’s January and I have plenty of time to work . So I think six would be easy. Realistically, I could probably do six or seven and make sure no one ever catches up.”

UFC 311 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. Holland takes on former ONE champion Reinier de Ridder (18-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in a welterweight bout that serves as the main card opener.

“I know he had a pretty decent career at ONE,” Holland said. “I know he lost all that before he came over here. Just keep them moving.”

De Ridder made his promotional debut in November when he submitted division booklet Gerald Meerschaert. Despite this result, Holland is a black belt himself and said he is not overly concerned about being submitted.

“At the end of the day, I just see him start to fade and just give me the ‘dub,'” Holland said. “That’s just how I imagine it. When he lost the belt in the last organization, he kind of just faded away and gave the belt away. Maybe that’s what he does: fades and gives it away. … I probably struggled less getting ready for this guy. If he warns me, that would be insane. I don’t think he does anything that good on earth.

“Him in the Gerald Meerschaert fight was fun. Gerald is a tough guy to fight. I’ve been there before, done that before. That being said, Meerschaert just made a little mistake. If Meerschaert hadn’t made that mistake, I think , that in round 3 Meerschaert would have won that fight. The guy was ready to quit.”

For more on the card, visit the MMA Junkies event hub for UFC 311.