Kevin Holland hints at retirement following UFC 279 loss to Khamzat Chimaev

Kevin Holland has hinted at retirement following his UFC 279 loss to Khamzat Chimaev.

Kevin Holland (23-8 MMA) got in the Octagon with Khamzat Chimaev (12-0 MMA) on Saturday September 10th at UFC 279 which took place in the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada. ‘Trailblazer’ was defeated by first round submission in the catchweight bout.

Holland, 29, was originally scheduled to fight Daniel Rodriguez (17-2 MMA), but when “Borz” missed weight for his welterweight fight against Nate Diaz (22-13 MMA), the UFC was forced to shuffle the fight card.

Following the loss to Chimaev, Holland said:

“Yo, guys. I lost an amazing grappling match last night, I mean fight. My bad, Chimaev is one hell of an athlete. Still gonna be talking s*** cause you know who I am.”

Continuing Holland said:

“I hate ending the year like this, so I would love to go in there against a striker. I don’t know if I’m still deserving of a ‘Wonderboy’ fight, I would love a ‘Wonderboy’ fight, but if not a ‘Wonderboy’ fight, D-Rod, we were all the way on task to getting it done. We had to switch it up to save the card, so maybe we can get something nice and get it going and collect another check before the end of the year.”

Has Holland had a change of heart? Is he now looking to get out of the sport entirely instead of looking towards his next battle in the Octagon?

Taking to ‘Instagram’, Holland sent the following cryptic message:

“Had a good run 30 in a little over a month got paid I’m out”

NEXT CAREER CHOICE??”

Followed up by another post stating:

“Retired before 30”

If Holland is indeed going to retire from the sport, he’ll do so with a record 13 wins via KO/TKO and six by submission.

What do you think of Kevin Holland’s messages on Instagram? Would you be disappointed to see the fighter retire so early into his career?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!