Kevin Holland has no idea why Khamzat Chimaev thinks he would want to train with him following the result of their last-minute catchweight fight at UFC 279.
Holland accepted the bout on short notice after Khamzat was pulled from his welterweight headliner with Nate Diaz after his historic UFC 279 weight miss. ‘Borz’ won the matchup via submission, submitting ‘Trailblazer’ with a D’Arce choke just two minutes into the first round.
Any bad blood they had before the fight was squashed in the Octagon but Holland wants to make it clear that he has no intention of forming any friendship with Khamzat after shooting down the latter’s post-fight training invite during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour (h/t MMA News).
“It’s more likely for the universe to change and we all look like cartoon characters. I’m not training with that guy. I don’t know what the f*ck he was thinking,” Holland, a former top-ten middleweight, told Ariel Helwani. “I guess because I asked him how many times a week they work wrestling. But hey, I’m just trying to steal the recipe for me and my guys. He shot a fast shot.”
“It’s me and my team against the world,” he continued. “I’m not training with no other squads. I may stop in, say what’s up to some people I think are really cool, shout out to those boys out there at RVCA… But my squad is my squad. My team is my team,” Holland continued. “No thanks, whatsoever. There’s no thank you even involved. Just two middle fingers, but I ain’t gonna throw it up on Ariel Helwani’s show.”
Holland will look to rebound from his UFC 279 loss to Khamzat when he takes on two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson at UFC on ESPN 42 on Dec. 3. Just a couple of weeks before the matchup was announced, Holland revealed that he had retired at age 29 but later walked back those comments via Instagram.