‘It’s not beef, he’s chicken’… Kevin Holland takes aim at ‘annoying’ Joaquin Buckley ahead of UFC 307 in Salt Lake City
At UFC 307, which takes place this weekend out in Utah, Joaquin Buckley is set to face welterweight veteran Stephen Thompson, whilst Kevin Holland is scheduled to fight Roman Dolidze at middleweight.
Yet before the pair could even get into the nitty-gritty of their own respective fights, both Kevin Holland and Joaquin Buckley would start their media day interviews by taking shots at one another.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesKevin Holland rips ‘chicken’ Joaquin Buckley, New Mansa fires backFirst up to face the music at the UFC 307 pre-fight media day scrum was Kevin ‘Trailblazer’ Holland, who revealed that he’s not staying at the official fighter hotel over concerns that he could run into Buckley.
“I figured if I beat the f*** out of Buckley before the fight happens then you guys lose a fight and I get in trouble,” admitted Holland, offering a cheeky grin as he noted “If you want the truth, I’ll give you the truth.
“It’s not beef, that mother***** is chicken,” stated Holland, with the popular American having gotten the better of ‘New Mansa’ via a third-round KO when they fought back in 2020, albeit in Buckley’s UFC debut.
Since that bout, Buckley has gone 9-3 in the promotion and is riding an impressive four-fight winning streak which includes victories over Vicente Luque and Nursulton Ruziboev.
“Buckley’s annoying,” continued Holland, before acknowledging that he would have advised common opponent Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson against taking such a fight with his former foe.
“I don’t understand why Wonderboy would want to do that [fight]. Wonderboy at one point in time wanted [to fight] somebody who was just going to strike with him [and] Buckley’s not going to just strike with him, so therefore, Wonderboy’s probably going to lose that fight.”
Only a few minutes later, it was Buckley’s turn to answer the media’s questions, with the outspoken welterweight quick to laugh off Holland’s comments as “I’m not staying at the fighter hotel either.
WOW: Joaquin Buckley unites with Ghostbusters star after years of being compared to Hollywood actor“I don’t know man, I guess everybody wants to fight lil’ Buck… Regardless though, there ain’t no problems, I don’t have an issue with Kevin Holland you know.
“I’m here to fight Stephan Thomas and get my paycheck so if Kevin wants any beef or any problems, he’s going to have to pull up on me, that’s all.”
Buckley settles his feud with former double champ Daniel CormierWhilst the beef has certainly not been squashed with Holland, Buckley did manage to settle his long-term feud with former UFC double champion Daniel Cormier.
The two had been embroiled in a bitter back-and-forth, with Buckley calling the legendary fighter a ‘hoe’ whilst DC would label Buckley a ‘p****’ for the controversial outburst.
Thankfully, ‘New Mansa’ confirmed that the two had made amends with each other earlier in the day during an interview for ESPN; although he would have preferred if the cameras had been turned off for their initial interaction.
“I just got done talking to DC, that was cool – we were in front of the cameras, I thought we would just be in a room by ourselves for a bit and be able to talk like men… It is what it is, we had a good conversation, a good interview and that’ll be out so people be able to see it.
WONDERBOY: Stephen Thompson reveals what his final goal is for his career ahead of fight against Buckley
“I thought it was going to be [off-camera], I think that off-camera just man-to-man, that’s the type of conversation that I would rather have, or I’d be more comfortable with if anything.”
As per the official UFC 307 event page, Buckley vs Thompson is set to be the final preliminary bout of the evening, whilst Holland vs Dolidze is set to open the main card – it all goes down live from Salt Lake City this weekend.
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