UFC fighter claims he was ‘jumped’ by Kevin Holland’s crew
Holmes offered to fight Holland in the UFC after a reported altercation at a regional MMA event on Friday night.
UFC middleweight Joseph Holmes wants to fight Kevin Holland after getting into an altercation at a regional MMA event.
Following Xtreme Knockout 60 on Friday night, Holmes went live on Instagram and claimed he was ‘jumped’ from behind by some people who were part of Holland’s entourage.
“I just got freaking jumped!,” announced on social media. “I can’t think of the last time I got jumped. And where my people at? None of y’all around me backing me up. None of you. What’s the question marks about? What more do I gotta say? I got jumped!
“They beat me up, they beat me down, the stomped on me when I was down,” continued Holmes. “F—k Kevin Holland. Bro, f—k that guy.”
According to Holmes, it all started after he and Holland had a run-in when they were leaving the Statler. He explained he and the ’Trailblazer’ had a pre-existing feud after Holmes dated an ex-girlfriend of Holland’s uncle.
When Holmes and Holland settled down, ‘Ugly Man’ said he suddenly felt several people punching him.
“We were at XKO at the Statler in downtown, I’m walking through the venue, and me and Kevin already don’t get along,” said Holmes. “Kevin Holland. So I’m walking through the venue, he ends up being in front of me, I make quick eye contact, continue on my way, don’t say a word. Don’t touch him, don’t look at him, nothing. So then, literally less than 10 minutes later, me and my girl were about to leave, for a quick second. I’m like, ‘Hey, shoot, I just left my clothes upstairs,’ because I changed clothes. I got back to run upstairs where my fighter was, to grab my clothes that I left, and I see Kevin Holland coming down the stairs. I’m walking up the stairs, he’s coming down the stairs, he literally stops in front of me, looking at me, and he looks at me and reaches his hands out, like he’s stopping me from walking upstairs, and then he grabs on my f—king arm.
“So what am I going to do? I’m like, ‘Nah n—a, get your hands off me,’ and I back him up, like hell nah, you ain’t about to be grabbing on me,” continued Holmes. “And then this n—a, pop, pop, pop, and the next thing you know I’m getting punched in the back of my f—king head. And I’m sitting there like, ‘What the f—k?’ Next thing you know my glasses get tossed across the room, my earphones get tossed off me, I’m just standing here, like, confused. Like, ‘What the f—k did I do?’ I’m just trying to walk up some goddamn stairs.”
Holmes said that Holland did not punch him and even told his people to get off before security showed up. However, because of his involvement, Holmes wants the UFC to send Holland a contract.
“So after being attacked, all the security is now surrounding me, after I’m the one that was attacked, now the security is surrounding me, and I’m like, you know what, ‘Y’all are right. I’m going to be the bigger person. Totally fine,’” said Holmes. “I look at Kevin and I was like, ‘Sign the contract when it comes.’ We’re going to send you a contract, sign it when it gets there. Because you’re acting all big and bad and tough, meanwhile your boyfriends are just hitting me in the back of the head, for what? Make sure you sign the f—king contract.”
Holmes is 1-2 in the UFC. The Contender Series alum suffered a second-round rear-naked choke loss to Jun Yong Park at UFC Vegas 63 recently.
About the author: Kristen King is a writer for Bloody Elbow. She has covered combat sports since 2016. (full bio)