Kevin Holland once again found himself in the middle of an altercation with another UFC fighter outside of the cage.
Wednesday at the UFC 287 host hotel in Miami, Holland and fellow UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal exchanged words in the lobby before security intervened and sent each fighter on their way before things escalated further.
A person with knowledge of the situation told MMA Junkie that the altercation did not turn outright physical, but there were verbal insults hurled each way. The source added that Masvidal and Holland had previously established negative feelings toward each other.
A video of a portion of the altercation was uploaded to Twitter, and another later to Instagram by UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad, which shows Masvidal and Holland yelling back and forth.
Minutes before video of the end of the altercation surfaced, Holland posted a since-deleted selfie video to Instagram in an apparent attempt to get ahead of the news.
“That video is going to come out,” Holland said. “Then, they’re probably going to do an opponent change again.”
The latter sentence was a comedic nod to his UFC 279 fight week altercation with Khamzat Chimaev that famously canceled the event’s pre-fight news conference. Holland and Chimaev were later booked to fight one another after matchups were shuffled due to a Chimaev weight miss.
Nicknamed “Big Mouth” by UFC president Dana White, Holland is no stranger to run-ins with opponents and potential opponents around MMA events. Since September, Holland has engaged in altercations of varying degrees with Chimaev, manager Ali Abdelaziz, and UFC middleweight Joseph Holmes.
Masvidal is currently in hot water for a physical altercation of his own after he allegedly attacked UFC rival Colby Covington outside a Miami steakhouse in March 2022. Masvidal faces two felony charges and the case is still ongoing.
UFC 287 takes place Saturday at Miami-Dade Arena in Miami. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+. Masvidal co-headlines against Gilbert Burns after Holland fights Santiago Ponzinibbio.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
