Kevin Holland confirms he’s retired from fighting unless “something super-duper magical pops up”

Kevin Holland is indeed retiring from MMA.

After Holland’s UFC 279 first-round submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev, ‘Trailblazer’ shockingly announced his retirement from MMA. The news came just a few days after his tough loss, so many people didn’t think he was being serious, including Dana White. Yet, Holland on his podcast confirmed he is retired.

“So I’m retired. I’m officially retired,” Holland said on Real Eyes Recognize podcast (via MMAFighting). “I’m retired from fighting. I had a good fight, good payday, I had a good run. I see some of the people online [saying] ‘obviously he realizes he’ll never get the belt’ and my little psychedelic trip, that means I was wrong. I can’t be wrong on a psychedelic trip. I’ve lost coming out to Young Boy. That was my last hope, never losing coming out to Young Boy. Times are rough for your boy. But I’m really, really happy on the green side. Unless something super-duper magical pops up, yeah, I’m pretty happy with the way things are.”

Holland says he will now turn his attention to his new podcast as well as possibly starting a gym in Texas. He also says there is no ill-will towards Chimaev for causing the fight, as he says the increase in pay was well worth him taking that scrap and losing.

If Kevin Holland is indeed retired from MMA he would end his career with a record of 23-8 and one No Contest. Before the loss to Chimaev, he scored back-to-back wins over Tim Means and Alex Oliveira in his first two welterweight fights after starting out his UFC career at middleweight. He fought 16 times in the UFC and went 10-5 with one No Contest, scoring notable wins over Gerald Meerschaert, Jacare Souza, Joaquin Buckley, and Anthony Hernandez among others.

Do you think Kevin Holland is retired?