Holland wants striking battle with Wonderboy after losing ‘grappling match’ to Khamzat

UFC welterweight Kevin Holland wants to fight a striker next.

Kevin Holland is looking for a quick turnaround following his lopsided submission defeat to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279, calling for a standup battle with UFC veteran Stephen Thompson next.

Holland gave credit to Khamzat for his performance but can’t help but feel ‘Borz’ treated their short-notice, 180-pound catchweight bout as a ‘grappling match’ instead of an actual fight.

“Guys, I lost an amazing grappling match last night — I mean fight, my bad,” Holland, who was submitted in the first round, said on Instagram (h/t MMA Fighting). “Chimaev is one hell of an athlete. Still going to be talking s*** cause you know who I am.”

Holland, who goes by the nickname ‘Trailblazer’, then called for a welterweight fight against either ‘Wonderboy’ or Daniel Rodriguez as he hopes to fight again by the end of the year and showcase his skills against a fellow striker.

“Hate to end the year like this so I’d love to go in there against a striker,” Holland said. “I don’t know if I’m still deserving of a ‘Wonderboy’ [Stephen Thompson] fight. I’d love a ‘Wonderboy’ fight and if not a ‘Wonderboy’ fight, D-Rod [Daniel Rodriguez], we were all the way on task to getting it done. We had to switch it up to save the card.

“Maybe we can get something nice and get it going and collect another check before the end of the year.”

Prior to UFC 279, Holland was on a two-fight winning streak, notching stoppage victories over Alex Oliveira and Tim Means. He is currently unranked at welterweight.