Kevin Holland will drop down to welterweight for his next appearance, facing Alex Oliveira at UFC’s March 5th pay-per-view event. The recent matchup has joined the UFC 272 lineup, per a report from Damon Martin of MMA Fighting.
UFC 272 is currently expected to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Holland has been a regular at middleweight since joining the UFC roster in 2018. He enters the bout searching for his first win in a year. He had an unsuccessful 2021, resulting in two losses and one no contest.
Holland’s last fight was a controversial no-contest result against Kyle Daukaus in October. UFC attempted to re-book the fight later in the year, although an injury to Holland stopped the fight from happening.
Earlier in 2021, Holland lost main event bouts to Marvin Vettori and Derek Brunson. He was one of the hotter names heading into that year, as he attained five consecutive victories in 2020.
The upcoming fight is an important matchup for Oliveira, as he enters it on a three-fight losing streak. He lost twice in 2021, getting submitted by Randy Brown and dropping a decision to Niko Price.
Oliveira has broken a three-fight skid earlier in his career, bouncing back in 2020 after struggling in two previous years.
It was reported last week that a title doubleheader would be on the UFC 272 card. However, recent updates have indicated the bouts may move to an April card.
Here is how UFC 272 looks currently:
Bout 6: Edson Barboza (22-10) vs. Bryce Mitchell (14-0) (Featherweight)
Bout 5: Jessica Eye (15-1) vs. Manon Fiorot (8-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 4: Maryna Moroz (10-3) vs. Mariya Agapova (10-2) (Flyweight)
Bout 3: Dustin Jacoby (16-5-1) vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (16-4) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 2: Tim Elliott (17-12-1) vs. Tagir Ulanbekov (13-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 1: Marina Rodriguez (15-1-2) vs. Yan Xiaonan (13-2) (Strawweight)
Bout 1: Kevin Holland (21-7) vs. Alex Oliveira (22-11-1) (Welterweight)
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