UFC’s Joseph Holmes Claims Kevin Holland And His Crew Jumped Him

UFC middleweight Joseph Holmes has claimed that Kevin Holland and his crew jumped him at the XKO 60 event in Dallas this past Friday night.

According to Holmes there has been bad blood between the two in the past due to the fact that he once dated an ex-girlfriend of Holland’s uncle, but he says he was just minding his own business on Friday night when he suddenly found himself being attacked out-the-blue by several people including the UFC star.

“I just got freakin’ jumped,” Holmes stated in an Instagram video. “I can’t think of the last time I got jumped!

“They beat me up, they beat me down, they stomped on me while I was down. F*ck, Kevin Holland. F*ck that guy. I just got fricking jumped.”

Holmes then went on to explain exactly how it all went down from his perspective.

“I’m walking through the venue, he ends up being in front of me, I make quick eye contact and continue on my way,” Holmes said. “I don’t say a word, don’t look at him, don’t touch him, nothing. So then literary less than 10 minutes later, me and my girl, we’re about to leave, and for a quick second I go, ‘Hey, shoot. I just left my clothes upstairs,’ because I changed clothes.

“I go back to run upstairs where my fighter was to grab my clothes that I left, and I see Kevin Holland coming down the stairs. I’m walking up the stairs, and he literally stops in front of me, looking at me, and he like looks at me and reaches his hands out like he’s stopping me to go upstairs.

“Then he grabs my f*cking arm. So what am I going to do? I’m like, “Na, (explicit), get your hands off me,’ and I back him up. … And next thing you know, I’m getting punched in the back of my f*cking head. And I’m just sitting there like, ‘What the f*ck.’ My glasses get tossed across the room, my earphones get tossed off me. I’m just standing there confused, ‘What the f*ck did I do.’ I’m just trying to walk up the stairs.’”

To be clear, it seems that Holmes is claiming that Holland’s crew were also punching him, and also added that Holland then called them off just before security arrived.

Now Holmes wants payback, but rather than retaliating by jumping Holland, he wants them to settle their differences in the Octagon.

“I looked at Kevin and said, ‘Sign the contract when it comes. We’re going to send you a contract, sign it when it gets there.’ You’re acting all big and tough, meanwhile your boyfriends are just hitting me on the back of the head for what? Make sure you sign the f*cking contract.”

Holland has since responded, and though he’s not offered up his side of the story with regards to the alleged assault, he’s brushed aside Holmes talk of competing in the Octagon.

“Let’s be real, they won’t let me fight dude but you can put $20k on sparring,” Holland wrote. “… Piss or get off the pot.”

Holmes is currently 1-2 in his UFC run, having debuted with a decision loss against Jamie Pickett early last year, followed by a first round submission win over Alen Amedovski and then most recently a submission loss to Jin Yong Park.

Meanwhile, Holland went 2-2 in his 2022 campaign, earning stoppage victories over Alex Oliveira and Tim Means before suffering a first round submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev and then a TKO defeat against Stephen Thompson.

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