My Mom's Basement - QUARANTINE MINI-POD: KEVIN HOLLAND

Episode Date: December 16, 2020

Kevin Holland hops down into the Basement to discuss the spectacular 5-0 year he's had in the UFC, as well as his KO victory over Jacare Souza this past weekend! 3Chi: Use code ROBBIE at checkout to receive 5% off at 3Chi.comYou can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/mymomsbasement

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We'll make you feel high. It is the real deal stuff. I'm not lying to you. Without further ado, let's get into this interview. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to My Mom's Basement. I have a very special guest joining me right now.

He's coming off a spectacular knockout victory. Kevin Holland, how are you? I'm good, bro. I'm good. How you doing? I'm doing well. You've had quite the year. I mean, you've got Fighter of the Year accolades going up left and right, especially after this weekend. Five fights, five victories. I know you wanted the quick turnaround.

I know you wanted Chimeov this weekend for six. But now that you know that probably isn't going to happen christmas has got to feel pretty sweet coming up around the corner huh yeah that's gonna be pretty cool man i got a lot of a lot of cool little things lined up for christmas oh i'm sorry there that was that alert for that phone getting low overall man you know um get back in the gym do some swimming you know stay stay in shape so i can eat good for christmas and be ready for the next fight. Has this year just been the craziest year of your life or what? Yeah, it's been a pretty good year.

I don't know about the craziest, but it's been a pretty good year. So let's go back to the first fight you had scheduled for this whole year. You had it scheduled for, I believe it was March 21st. It was right when the pandemic was first shutting down everything. That gets canceled during the initial shutdown you get a fight in may with anthony hernandez knock him out you get two fights scheduled your opponents pull out i mean this was a common theme for you throughout 2020 where you were getting fights scheduled and then your opponents would pull out for the wildest of

reasons you know not necessarily saying they were on well the first the fight i had after anthony hernandez was supposed to be at 170 pounds. I got injured and ended up not getting medically cleared. So I couldn't fight the next fight. Now it's supposed to be against... Can't think of his name right now. But it's supposed to be at 170 pounds. He's had so many matchups, I know. Yeah.

Yeah, Daniel Rodriguez. Daniel Rodriguez. He's doing really good right now. So it's supposed to be against Daniel Rodriguez. That didn't happen. Then they scheduled another, Daniel Rodriguez. Daniel Rodriguez. He's doing really good right now. So, they're supposed to be against Daniel Rodriguez. That didn't happen. Then they scheduled another one at 85. Last second, COVID hit that or something happened. And then, you know, last second fight, last second fight, last second fight. You know how it goes.

You've had so many this year. So, you've had the Joaquin Buckley knockout in August. That was so recently. I feel like that could be someone's year highlight. But you just had one that trumped that, I think. You have another fight in October where you – that was a last-second opponent change as well, right? Your Halloween fight?

Yeah. I was set to fight somebody else, and I took that fight last second. And then something happened when I got there where he couldn't fight, so then I ended up getting a last-second fight. So it worked out. A lot of last-second shit this year. Unbelievable. And how do you adapt to all of the last second fight. So it worked out. A lot of last second shit this year. Unbelievable. And how do you adapt to all of the last second changing?

Like when you train, are you training very specifically for opponents? I guess you couldn't this year, huh? No, I mean, I never really do, though. There's not a whole lot of mimicking this person or mimicking that person. We might have conversations about what somebody might try and do. But overall, we just train. You know, we just do what we do. If we know we're going to fight a grappler we might do a couple more wrestling sessions if we know we're going to fight a striker we just keep it natural

and we strike a lot more um but we never like specifically train for one specific person i feel like that's kind of weird for somebody to do you can kind of concentrate on who the champion your division is and try and make sure that your skill sets are better than that person but that changes all the time too right yeah so at the end of your division is and try and make sure that your skill sets are better than that person. But that changes all the time too. Right. Yeah. So at the end of the day, you just got to make sure you're ready. So that way you don't have to get ready, you know, stay ready. You ain't got to get ready. That's the motto. Do you watch film on your opponents?

My coaches watch film. I may watch a couple of fights, you know, just to kind of get a feel, but you know, sit there and studying somebody day in day night. I can't do that, bro. I'd rather play my video game. You know, we'll get into that because the show's called my mom's basement i got some quote-unquote you know nerdy questions because i'm a comic book video game fan myself and whatnot so you get this fight over with amazing win in october and i have a question your opponent had the kind of sideshow bob type hair is that weird fighting a guy with that kind of hair is that

normal no that's cool bro just another it's different different kind of swag yeah i didn't know if i don't know if it was like if you could hook in like a guillotine if he could maybe slip out easier if you could maybe make it harder for him i don't know i never know what the difference is there clint's a little stronger you know that's what i mean like it could play an effect i don't know then you get this fight scheduled with her manson when darren till pulled out you unfortunately got coronavirus this was not too long ago how long were you sick for do you feel okay now yeah i never felt sick so oh you were asymptomatic i guess i took two negative tests after so i honestly i have no idea i'm not a scientist or a doctor so when it comes to covid you know'm just, it's not really a subject I know too much about.

Did what I had to do and took the fight the week later. I was going to say you get the fight scheduled right then. So did it make training incredibly difficult? Cause even though you got the negative test, I assume you had to quarantine and all that. Yeah. I trained in the garage until I got my negative test. Once you get two negative tests in the state of Texas, you can go back to work. So that was the motto.

So once I got the second negative test, I went back to work. So, I mean, it sucked a few days in the garage, but it wasn't ultimately that bad, you know. I was already ready for the Jack Ramanson fight. So, you know, just touching up the cardio and hitting the bag inside the garage ultimately wasn't that bad. It wasn't that, you know, it's never really that bad, you know. It's like I just kept training.

Did it also help that you were so active this year previously to even November that you were just in shape, you were so in shape for a fight? Yeah, we started getting ready for the Jack Marshman fight that we were supposed to have, and then that didn't work out. And then you never knew when we were going to jump back off and fight. I guess you could say the whole world was hopeful that it was going to go back to normal faster than what was expected. So we figured, like, hey, if it's going to go back off and fight, I guess you could say the whole world was hopeful that it was going to go back to normal faster than what was expected. So we figured like, hey, if it's going to go back to normal in a couple weeks, then

I'll be fighting in a couple weeks. That didn't happen. So year-round, we just kept training and kept training as much as we could, the best we could, and ultimately got war ready. You know, most people were ready for a fight. We were ready for war. Absolutely. And that brings us to this Saturday.

You have the Jacare fight, and you brings us to this saturday you have the jacare fight and you had one of the best knockouts of the year coming in at the buzzer we thought oh all the awards the nominations are set but no no no we got to add one ladies and gentlemen because kevin holland you knocked this guy out off your butt you were sitting on your butt i just watched i mean chel sonnen did a video breaking this down today daniel cormier was talking about Everyone, it almost feels like, to me, you could tell me if this is correct in this assumption, it feels like people are sort of finally waking up and seeing the entire year that you've had as a whole now, after this knockout. It was almost the exclamation point that you needed for everyone to look back and be like,

this guy's the fucking fighter of the year. Yeah, I mean, it's nice to put a stamp on the year like that, you know? Get it nice, right, and tight. But knockout of the year, I mean, I'm modest about it. I don't think so. Good knockout, for sure, for sure. You know, and like I said over and over again, Miho gets it. You know, it's like a baby boy.

You know, it's like Joaquin Buckley spinning in the air, watching Mike Houghton's leg. I'll give it to my little guy there. You know, it's like I've, John Queen Buckley spinning in the air. Watch my holding his leg. I'll give it to, I'll give it to my little guy there. You know, and it's like, uh, I've taught him well. So props to him. You know, it's like, let's let him have that, uh, fighter of the year. You know, let's let the votes go in. Let's see what happens. Uh, all those awards are dope, but they're not a fatter check as far as I'm concerned. You know? So, uh, just keep letting me fight, you know?

And it's like, um, I'm trying to take number one for the most fights in the year, so let's see if I can get six or seven next year, just in case somebody tries to top it. I mean, I don't think anyone will even want to try to top it. The knockout itself, maybe it wasn't the knockout of the year, it was such an unexpected, just knockout that none of us have ever seen before, you know, the way you sort of like whipped your leg around, the way you hit him in the crown of the head everyone was talking about, when you hit him with the crown of the head everyone was talking about. When you hit him with the first shot, instantly you cracked him. Clearly, you watched the tape back.

He was cracked from the first shot. Did you know immediately like, oh, he's majorly rocked the first time you hit him like that? Yeah, I could tell he was hurt, you know. It registered right away for you? Yeah, I seen him do a little, whoa. And so I just kept following up, you know. Boom, boom, boom, boom. But, you know, boom, boom, boom, boom. But, you know, it's like, yeah, definitely knew he was hurt. This is maybe a stupid question from a guy that's never been in a fight.

You can tell by the way I look and whatnot. But when you – from a guy that used to play baseball, you hit a baseball real good. You know, like, oh, it felt good off the bat. Does a punch feel the same way when you really land a punch? You're like, oh, that was a fucking heavy punch. Yeah, it's a different vibration. I mean, you can feel the same way when you really land a punch you're like oh that was a fucking heavy punch yeah it's a different vibration i mean you can feel you can feel the difference between you trying to throw it hard and you actually hitting it pretty hard you know it's a different vibration in the hand and the body but it's like you know it's like um it's more so

when you see it and you see the reaction you know it's like seeing the reaction is everything you know it's like if you hit somebody nice and you can't see what you did you won't know what really happened but if you can see the reaction and it makes a difference you know it's like if you hit somebody nice and you can't see what you did you won't know what really happened but if you can see the reaction and it makes a difference you know it's a dragon eye oh yeah the buckley knockout you had this year was crazy too because you hit him and it looked like he got sucked into the mat at warp speed that was fucking nuts yeah man yeah it sucks because you know like i said that's mijo that's my son right there i he's mad i seen the post the other day he was talking about don't spend all your money at one place. He's right.

He's right. I got to make sure I get that boy a mouthpiece for Christmas. You know, we were in a plan. We lost his mouthpiece. So never found that thing. So we got to get him another one. So I know you want the comms out fight for 2021. Do you want any of the other names that you were scheduled to fight or any of those matchups?

Like, oh, I really wanted to fight so-and-so. I hope I get to fight this guy in 2021. No, no, no. Who we get is who we get. As long as we get six of them, I'd be happy. We could start the year off with Derek Brunson. That'd be dope. That'd be real nice.

When we come back to the States, that'd be pretty cool. Are you itching to get back in front of a crowd? Because you're such a charismatic fighter. Even when you're in the octagon, you had Jacare dancing across from you. I feel like you're built for a sold out arena uh i mean a sold out arena would be dope it'd be nice to have fans there be nice to have everybody in the crowd we can go have a nice after party you know i don't have to wait until i get home to you know drink some of that howlerhead whiskey but

that being said at the same time no no crowd, that's okay too. As long as some way, some shape or form, people get to see or witness what happened, they get to be entertained, I'm cool with it. But a crowd would be pretty sick. I guess you do have the factor of a no crowd. We get to hear your trash talk, which is such a big part of your personality and game, I guess.

That's true. that's a good point it's just two sides you with a crowd it's great people would be going nuts for the knockouts you without a crowd we actually get to hear you talking shit so that's kind of cool so this show is called my mom's basement i would love to get into i know you're a comic book fan i know you're a video game fan just sort of the stuff that we talk about in my mom's basement so where do you fall comic book wise are you a marvel guy you dc guy you opposite marvel dc not a superhero guy what are you into my boys over here tripping uh i'm more so dc than marvel uh but you know i like a good read whatever's good you know it's like i haven't read a comic book in a while and it's like i've been

busy lately so i haven't read one in the past couple years but maybe I'll go pick one up for the holidays and chill I'm a Batman and Green Arrow fanatic okay I was gonna ask

who are your heroes Batman and Green Arrow for sure realistic superheroes you know it's like I got a bunch of little Robins running around

I got a little Robin sitting over here right now you know so you know how it goes you big uh dark knight returns guy when the two of those get to team up uh yeah kind of no i'm not i haven't read that when it gets when it gets weird like that if it's two or three batmans i can't do it yeah bro let me give you a recommendation dark knight returns

just one batman this is batman when's old. He's like 50 years old. Green Arrow. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Green Arrow's got like one arm. It's sick. Isn't there like two or three of them? No, not in that one. You sure? There's part one and part two.

Oh, there's part one and part two of the animated movie. Yeah. He made a movie out of the comic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And he has Batgirl running around with him, a new Batgirl. He's got Robin and she is a girl. yeah yeah if it's robin and she's a girl she's batgirl in my eyes i don't care how technical they try and make it listen i'm telling it might look weird i

bet you like i've seen it i've honestly i've seen it i probably have it in my collections at the house but if it's a girl you know i don't care how technical you get. She's bat girl. She's not Robin. Robin is a boy. One more question. Video game wise, 2020 we're in quarantine. What has been keeping you occupied the most? Oh, for sure. For sure. Call of duty, the whole quarantine, whether it was that or yeah. Or if it was a, was that modern warfare or whatever the heck it is.

Those modes, were you Battle Royale modes? All quarantine, all day, every day, about six hours of that right there. I have to, you know, all day, every day. Have you ever streamed? Have you gotten into streaming at all or no? You know what? I need to stream, and I got a little bit of a following now. Maybe I'll start streaming.

You play Call of Duty? So at Barstool, we do tournaments, and we've done MMA tournaments. We got Max Holloway. We got Jamal Hill. We got Megan Anderson. We got so many people from the UFC come play Warzone tournaments. You need to play with me so that way you can let all of them know that I'm the best in the UFC when it comes to Call of Duty. Bro, we'll see.

Max Holloway's got the belt right now. Max has the belt. I can see Max having the belt. Max is cool as shit. He's pretty damn good. I'll tell you that. I'm young, and I'm quick draw McGraw. I'm about to get out there and show you guys how I really get active.

Listen, the next UFC tournament we have, I'm going to hit you up. We're going to do a kill race. We'll throw you in there. Hit me up. Hit me up. As long as it's games I'm playing, I'm down. I don't like losing. Absolutely. It'll be war zone. It'll be war zone. All right. Kevin, this has been great. Tell everyone where they could find you on Twitter, social media, all that stuff. Guys, find me at Trailblaze to the top. All right.

And right now my hair is looking a little nappy, so I'm about to get faded by Eddie. So I'm going to have to catch you guys later. All right. Thank you very much, Kevin. All right, boss. Thank you, man. Appreciate you.