Kevin Holland explains why he turned down Nick Diaz to fight at UFC 302 instead

Nick Diaz returns for the first time in three years when he faces Vicente Luque at UFC Abu Dhabi in August, but it turns out UFC had a different idea in mind for his opponent.

Ahead of his fight at UFC 302, Kevin Holland revealed that he was actually offered Diaz, but ultimately turned down the matchup in favor of heading back up to middleweight for a showdown with Michal Oleksiejczuk on Saturday in New Jersey instead.

“It kind of got presented to me,” Holland said at UFC 302 media day. “I was supposed to be taking a fight at 170 against a pretty named opponent but they said he wasn’t going to be able to fight until August, so I was like, ‘Damn, that’s a long time.’ They’re like, ‘Bro, it’s only an extra month,’ and I’m like, ‘No, it’s too long.’ I got this, I’m happy with it. I guess that fight’s not going to circle back because I see he just got booked. We’ll see what happens after.

“It was Diaz. I knew he was coming back to fight. I just thought I was going to smoke him and then I was going to smoke Luque too, but those two are fighting each other so they can smoke each other. Two big-ass joints.”

While Diaz would’ve been a much bigger fight given his legendary status in the sport, Holland says none of that has ever really mattered to him.

With consecutive losses on his résumé to Jack Della Maddalena and Michael “Venom” Page in his most recent fights, Holland is far more concerned with just getting back in the cage to compete again.

“I don’t want to wait for nobody,” Holland said. “It’s like, waiting is just not a game that I’ve ever really been [good with]. Waiting to get paid, waiting to scrap — it just sucks.

“It’s usually when I lose, when I’m waiting to fight. I usually get my ass beat. I’m waiting around, I’m probably partying. You just don’t see it because I’m not as popular as Conor [McGregor].”

Holland also admitted he had no desire to fight in Abu Dhabi, a country that employs strict laws against drug use and possession.

The UFC veteran has openly discussed using marijuana as part of his daily life. In Abu Dhabi, indulging that habit could come with stiff penalties such as fines or even jail time. That was enough of a deterrent for Holland to pass on competing there, and he was actually surprised Diaz — an infamous marijuana user himself — agreed to go there.

“I wasn’t going to Abu Dhabi,” Holland said. “I don’t understand why the f*ck either one of us would want to go to Abu Dhabi. I think it’s a beautiful place, and if they allowed us some greenery for the week, we’ll be there. But no greenery, it’s just hard for me.

“You already have to do it fight week. You get here, you don’t smoke. But it’s just the thought that right after I knock this guy out, I can’t go smoke no weed? It’s like, f*ck. I don’t know how people do it.”