Kevin Holland is sticking around at middleweight.
On Tuesday, MMA Fighting confirmed that Holland will face former ONE Championship two-division champion Reiner de Ridder in a middleweight matchup at UFC 311. MMAMania was first to report the news.
Holland also confirmed the matchup on his social media, saying he’s “back at it like a jackrabbit.”
One of the more popular fighters on the UFC roster, Holland has split his time between 170 and 185 pounds since joining the UFC in 2018. After suffering back-to-back losses at welterweight, including a decision loss to Michael “Venom” Page earlier this year, “Trailblazer” bumped back up to middleweight and defeated Michal Oleksiejczuk and picked up his first win in the division since 2020. Most recently Holland suffered a TKO loss to Roman Dolidze after suffering a rib injury in their fight at UFC 307.
De Ridder is a former middleweight and light heavyweight ONE champion who left the promotion earlier this year. De Ridder made his UFC debut earlier this month, submitting Gerald Meerschaert with an arm-triangle choke at UFC Las Vegas 100.
UFC 311 takes place on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. No main event has been confirmed for the card as of yet, though it is rumored that UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will defend his belt in a rematch with Armen Tsarukyan.
