TJ Dillashaw was one of the many fans who tuned in to Dana White's first pay-per-view event of the year last weekend.
On Saturday night, the former two-time UFC bantamweight champion watched as Islam Makhachev submitted Renato Moicano in one round to defend his lightweight title in the UFC 311 main event.
In the co-headliner, Umar Nurmagomedov lost to Merab Dvalishvili, who used his elite-level cardio to score a come-from-behind victory in their pulsating five-round bantamweight title fight.
However, it was a fighter on the UFC 311 undercard that got the biggest reaction from TJ Dillashaw.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
TJ Dillashaw says Kevin Holland will never be a champion
Kevin Holland went viral for his strange interview with MMA legend Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson in the days leading up to his UFC 311 fight with Reinier de Ridder, which knocked him out in one round at the Intuit Dome in California.
Dillashaw was unimpressed with his attitude on the JAXXON podcast and his performance in the Octagon.
The 38-year-old has seen enough to confidently predict that Holland will never become a UFC champion.
“The post you made about him not caring about being a UFC champion says, 'There's too much politics in it,'” Dillashaw said. “Okay, dude, that's just an excuse because you'll never be a champion.
“He is a very entertaining fighter, he talks a lot, but he will never be a champion. I promise you that.
“It's the truth, he has some holes in his game, and we see that here. Will you become a champion if you don't care? No, you have to obsess over it every day of your life. You have to be OCD when it comes to training, to be the best and not lose any training.
“He's talking about bringing training partners, going home and smoking. Just sitting here and listening to him and watching him on TV, he doesn't have the mentality for it, he's just happy to be on TV.
Kevin Holland breaks silence after UFC 311 loss
The Netherlands has suffered back-to-back first-round losses and has fallen to 1-4 in their past five fights.
At this point, it seems more likely that the American will be cut by the UFC than he will make a serious title run.
On Wednesday he took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to address his worrying dip in form.
“It's been pretty shitty lately… I need to clean [s***] up,” Holland tweeted.
Things have been pretty messy lately…I need to clean up
— Kevin Holland (@Trailblaze2top) January 22, 2025
View Tweet
The 32-year-old wants to get back to the form that made him one of the must-see UFC fighters.
In 2020, he won five straight fights to become a real contender for Fighter of the Year.
Since then, Holland's career has fallen apart as he suffered eight losses in his last thirteen Octagon appearances.
It remains to be seen whether he can get things back on track during the year.
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