Kevin Holland is one of the fastest rising middleweight fighters in the UFC, with 21 wins and five defeats. ’Trailblazer’ is currently on a 5-fight win streak. Lately, he knocked out Ronaldo Souza in a devastating fashion while he was on his back.

In a recent interview with BT Sport, Holland was asked about getting in the top 5 and his possibilities of getting a title shot after winning his next fight.

Holland wasted little time and quickly took a shot at the present 185lbs champion Israel Adesanya.

Holland said, “Right now looking at it is the 85 division doesn’t have a champ. Our champ went up to 205, vacated the belt, and lost. You’re only as good as your last fight.”

Kevin Holland thinks Isreal Adesanya is not the champ

Adesanya stepped up to 205 and lost his last fight. Therefore, Kevin Holland thinks Adesanya is not the champion. The fact is, Israel Adesanya is still the middleweight champ, but Holland wants to play some mind games with him.

Doing this will put Kevin Holland in a strong position of getting a crack at the title before Darren Till gets it. But to make this happen, ‘Trailblazer’ has to win his next fight against Derek Brunson at the UFC Fight Night.

Holland claimed it’s his division by telling “He is not the champ, he is just another guy swimming in the middleweight division and you ask the people it’s my division, not his.”

Kevin Holland has gone all guns blazing at the champion. Holland proclaimed himself as a ‘real deal’ and downplayed Adesanya by referring to him as a ‘paper guy’. He also highlighted the fact that the middleweight champ does not like being taken down by his opponent. This was certainly based on his last performance, where ‘The Last Stylebender’ was taken down multiple times.

Adesanya has a kickboxing background where takedowns are not allowed, but nevertheless, he has a great takedown defense. Though he was taken down in his last fight, many experts believed this was due to the size discrepancy between him and his opponent.

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Holland has gone hard on Adesanya, and certainly, he can talk the talk. Will he walk the walk if he faces the Champion inside the octagon?