Kevin Holland will defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) turf against the promotional newcomer, Michael “Venom” Page, at UFC 299 in Miami, Florida this weekend (Sat., March 9, 2024).
Page, 36, has been one of the more popular and polarizing fighters on the Bellator roster for the past decade. After finishing out his contract in 2023, “MVP” made the jump to UFC, signing to make his debut against Octagon mainstay, Holland.
Holland, 31, has fought 20 times (12-7, 1 no contest, 25-10, 1 no contest overall) since he arrived in the promotion after he earned a contract through Dana White’s Contender Series in the summer of 2018. Page, on the other hand, enjoyed a solid 18-fight run (16-2, 21-2 overall) in Bellator that started in May 2014. The sensational striker will look to quickly rise through the ranks, but Holland won’t let it be at his expense.
“He’s not a UFC guy, he’s a Bellator guy,” Holland told ESPN. “If I wanted to fight Bellator guys I would have went to Bellator. I’m in the UFC. Sounds good, welcome to the party. Hopefully, after I smash him he’s not even here anymore and he goes off to a different league and does his thing.
“It’s a free body. That’s all it is,” he concluded. “It’s not a higher pay, it’s not a jump up in ranking, it’s just a free body. It’s another kill to add to the hunt list. That’s all it is.”
The London, England native, Page, didn’t even break a sweat his last time out at Bellator 292 in March 2023. Page took on fellow perennial Welterweight contender, Goiti Yamauchi, and needed only 26 seconds to score a disgusting leg kick technical knockout that broke the kneecap of his opponent (watch highlights).
Heading into UFC 299, Holland can get back in the win column by overcoming the Brit after he came up short against Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena via split decision at Noche UFC in September 2023.
“I think sometimes with the style he has people are probably gonna discredit a little bit,” Holland said. “People hate to see flashy stuff sometimes and hate to see things that you can’t do, right? So, he might be a little better than people think. Pretty sure he’s fast, pretty sure he has good power, the way he’s finishing people and stuff like that.
“All that being said, he’s hitting guys with bad timing and no head movement, no footwork,” he concluded. “I do a little bit of everything. So, it should be a pretty fun show for me.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 299 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
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This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
