Kevin Holland is in California training for his fight alongside Daniel Cormier. ‘Trailblazer’, a 185-pound contender, looked to have a bright future in the division. Last year Kevin had reeled off five straight wins, three of them by KO and one submission. But in 2021, he suffered two defeats that exposed his weakness inside the cage: wrestling.
It was at UFC Fight Night Vegas 22 that Holland once again found himself on the losing end. After a brilliant 2020, he lost to veteran Derek Brunson by unanimous decision. Three weeks later he would step back into the octagon, this time as a replacement. With only ten days notice he faced Marvin Vettori, and was roundly dominated by the Italian, who took the fight by unanimous decision.
Kevin Holland travels to California to train on Wrestling and Grapling with Daniel Cormier
In these fights, his performance inside the octagon declined and he exposed that fighting is not his forte. That’s why commentator Daniel Cormier offered him his help and invited him to practice with him at the American Kickboxing Academy.
AKA is one of the precursor gyms of MMA. Several UFC champions such as Daniel Cormier, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Cain Velasquez, Luke Rockhold, among others, have passed through there.
Last Tuesday Cormier posted on his Instagram account a video of Holland after his first fight training. In the publication ‘DC’ emphasizes the attitude of ‘Trailblazer’, and his willingness to learn and to solve his mistakes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPR862-DKlC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
“I’m very proud of Kevin Holland for taking the first step. He’s not only here, he’s willing and wants to work. He’ll fight again tomorrow and then he’ll be at the best gym in the world American Kickboxing Academy with the guys. Recognizing your problems and trying to figure out how to solve them takes a lot of maturity. His coaches at home are also the best, not trying to stop Kevin from finding something better. We can help him in his struggle. That’s the kind of coach you want, the kind that puts the athlete first!”
Holland takes things seriously, but does not lose his characteristic humor, these are his words in the video:
“This is super easy, I’m teaching these guys a little bit of wrestling. They’ve never wrestled like this before. With some of these guys I won 22 points to zero.”
At the moment Holland does not have a fight scheduled, and according to his agent, the fighter will keep training.
“We’re trying to get back in the cage in July or August. Anyway, if anything comes up, you know Kevin is always ready and willing. In the meantime, he’ll be back and forth to work with DC and his team in San Jose. Texas will continue to be his base for training, just adding California and some training in Vegas at the Performance Institute.”
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