Holland officially retires from MMA: 'I had a good run'
UFC welterweight Kevin Holland confirmed his retirement from mixed martial arts Tuesday.
"I'm officially retired ... I'm retired from fighting. I had a good fight, good payday, I had a good run," Holland said on his "Real Eyes Recognize Podcast."
Holland, who also competed at middleweight, originally announced he was hanging up the gloves on Instagram last month. The post was initially met with skepticism.
Company president Dana White said in September that "it's a little too soon" for Holland to walk away from the sport, according to Farah Hannoun and Ken Hathaway of MMA Junkie.
Holland (23-8, 1 no-contest) suffered a first-round submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279. He was originally scheduled to fight Daniel Rodriguez on that card but squared off with Chimaev after the Swedish fighter missed weight by 7.5 pounds for his main-event bout with Nate Diaz.
The Forth Worth, Texas, native secured back-to-back second-round finishes over Tim Means (submission) and Alex Oliveira (TKO) prior to his defeat in September. He also recorded notable victories over Ronaldo Souza, Joaquin Buckley, and Anthony Hernandez.
Despite losing his final match in the Octagon, Holland is satisfied with his earnings from the event and notes there is no ill will toward Chimaev. "He put me in a very good spot in my life," Holland said.
"Trailblazer" isn't completely closing the door on a return to competition but revealed it would take an incredible event to bring him back.
"Unless something super-duper magical pops up, yeah, I'm pretty happy with the way things are," he said.