The UFC’s highly anticipated return to Houston hit a major snag as a key welterweight bout featuring the promotion’s busiest star, Kevin Holland, unexpectedly fell apart, creating uncertainty for the organization. Even before the year’s first events take place, one of their upcoming projects is already showing cracks. The UFC is set to kick off its seven-year broadcasting deal with Paramount+ starting with UFC 324 on January 24.

Then, after two events in February, the promotion will return to Houston for the first time in four years. The historic Toyota Center will host UFC Fight Night 268, headlined by a high-stakes matchup between Sean Strickland and Anthony Hernandez. However, a welterweight star recently turned down his fight against Kevin Holland, which leaves the rest of the card in flux.

Plans crack for UFC Fight Night

“Geoff Neal has officially declined fighting Kevin Holland at #UFCHouston on February 21st despite Kevin Holland agreeing to the bout,” wrote an MMA page and instructor on X. Texas standout Geoff Neal (16-7) seems to avoid unnecessary risk after rising welterweight star Carlos Prates knocked him out with an elbow at UFC 319 in Chicago.

Currently, 35-year-old Neal ranks 13th in the division and is facing one of the toughest stretches of his MMA career. He went 3-1 in his last four octagon outings, with his only loss coming against UFC veteran Rafael dos Anjos. Meanwhile, the other three opponents, aside from Prates, included top prospects such as Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Garry.

In contrast, Kevin Holland, who is around the same age as Neal, remains one of the promotion’s busiest fighters, always ready to step in whenever Dana White & the UFC call. Over the past year, he fought five times across both the welterweight and middleweight divisions, though he only secured two wins.

He dropped his last two fights against Mike Malott and Daniel Rodriguez. Now, all eyes are on his upcoming bout to see if he can rebound from those losses and get his record back on track.

Inside Kevin Holland’s one-of-a-kind UFC career stats

Kevin Holland doesn’t fight for championships or titles; instead, he fights as a journeyman, focusing on his financial goals. “I don’t fight for world titles,” he said. “I fight for my financial lifestyle.” Last year, he planned to fight six times, but in the end, he only competed five times. Since joining the UFC in 2018, Holland has already surpassed Jon Jones in total UFC fights, even though Jones has been part of the promotion since 2008.

Over the years, Holland has faced most of the division’s top active fighters and has never lost three consecutive fights. He lost his last two bouts, and now his next fight will show whether he can bounce back. However, in MMA, nothing guarantees an outcome. Last year, Israel Adesanya stunned fans when he lost three straight fights after his defeat to Nassourdine Imavov. Clearly, anything can happen in this sport.

Now that Geoff Neal is out of UFC Houston, who do you want Kevin Holland to face next? Drop your opinion below.