Kevin Holland will fight Reiner de Ridder in a middleweight matchup at UFC 311 on January 18, as he returns to the division following recent bouts at welterweight.
Kevin Holland’s not leaving middleweight anytime soon.
On Tuesday, MMA Fighting confirmed Holland will face ex-ONE Championship dual champ Reiner de Ridder at UFC 311. MMAMania broke the news first.
Holland himself took to social media, quipping he’s “back at it like a jackrabbit.”
A fan favorite in the UFC, Holland has danced between 170 and 185 pounds since joining in 2018. After two straight losses at welterweight—one to Michael “Venom” Page—he moved up to middleweight, defeating Michal Oleksiejczuk for his first win in the division since 2020. But then, a rib injury led to a TKO loss against Roman Dolidze at UFC 307.
De Ridder, a former ONE middleweight and light heavyweight champion, parted ways with the promotion earlier this year. He made a splashy UFC debut by submitting Gerald Meerschaert with an arm-triangle choke at UFC Las Vegas 100.
UFC 311 is set for Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. No main event yet, but rumors hint at UFC lightweight champ Islam Makhachev defending his title in a rematch with Armen Tsarukyan.