Kevin Holland was asked to pick between Belal Muhammad and Dricus Du Plessis as the easier fight, his answer was crystal clear. Holland, who’s fought across both welterweight and middleweight, labeled Muhammad as the easier matchup.
While Du Plessis’ fighting style has drawn some criticism, Holland threw his support behind the South African champ, praising his toughness and unpredictability.
“Easier fight, I have to say honestly, probably Belal. People can say what they want to say about Du Plessis, his style is ugly, his style is this, his style is that, he is a gritty motherf*ker to fight. And it doesn’t matter what you’re doing that night, you’re going to have to deal with that grit. Belal I really honestly believe I shut down the takedown Belal gets knocked the f*k out.”
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Holland isn’t wrong. With Belal, you pretty much know what you’re getting into. He is going to come at you with one takedown after another. This is why Holland feels that if can manage to stay up on his feet, he could take out Belal.
DDP on the other hand is impossible to plan for. This is a man who headbutted Sean Strickland’s butt in a title fight that he won! He fell into Israel Adesanya’s legs and managed a perfect double-leg takedown. He fights like he is in Kung Fu movies from the 90s and despite the internet claiming he can’t keep getting away with it- he always seems to get away with it.
But both these fighters are champions in their divisions and Holland is far removed from the championship scene at the moment. He, however, has a far more important role to play- the gatekeeper. Any fighter that eventually wants to get into the Top 10- Top 5, must first go through Holland.
A closer look at Holland’s next bout
Holland is set to face former ONE Championship double champ Reinier de Ridder at UFC 311, and he’s already hyping it up on social media, saying he’s “back at it like a jackrabbit”.
Holland, one of the UFC’s most entertaining fighters, has bounced between welterweight and middleweight since joining the promotion in 2018. After back-to-back losses at 170, including a tough fight against Michael “Venom” Page, Holland returned to 185 and grabbed a win over Michal Oleksiejczuk.
Unfortunately, his next fight didn’t go as planned, losing to Roman Dolidze at UFC 307 after suffering a rib injury.
De Ridder, meanwhile, recently made his UFC debut after leaving ONE, where he held both middleweight and light heavyweight titles. He submitted Gerald Meerschaert earlier this month, and now he’s ready for Holland at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 in Inglewood, California.
