UFC 318 Preview and Prediction: Kevin Holland – Daniel Rodriguez

On the main card of UFC 318, we are going to see a welterweight matchup that was originally supposed to take place back in 2022 with a ranking on the line. “The Trailblazer” Kevin Holland (28-13, 1 NC) will already be making his fourth appearance of 2025 as he takes on “D-Rod” Daniel Rodriguez (19-5).

As mentioned, these two were supposed to fight in 2022 at UFC 279. That was the card where Khamzat Chimaev drastically missed weight for his fight with Nate Diaz and the entire card changed the day of weigh-ins. Holland ended up fighting and losing to Chimaev and Rodriguez ended up fighting and defeating Li Jingliang.

Now, they’ll be facing each other tomorrow night. For Rodriguez, he’ll be looking for his third straight win which would vault him into the rankings. The last time we saw Rodriguez was back in Des Moines in May where he scored a third round knockout over Santiago Ponzinibbio.

Kevin Holland lost a split decision to current champ Jack Della Maddalena and then a decision to Michael “Venom” Page back in 2023 and 2024 and those losses made him move back up to middleweight. Holland ran into issues with bigger grapplers like his first run at 185 and he decided after a January loss to Reinier de Ridder that it was time to move back down and take it serious.

Holland is focused and he returned to welterweight at UFC London in March and he earned Fight of the Night honors in a win over Gunnar Nelson. He parlayed that into a performance bonus last month when he ran through and submitted Vicente Luque in the second round.

UFC 318 Prediction

Kevin Holland has so much potential at welterweight and it all comes down to his commitment level and his training. I truly get the vibe that for the first time in his career, Kevin Holland is all in on being an elite fighter and he’s not just showing up to put on a show.

I expect this fight to take place on the feet and while I know that Rodriguez definitely carries power and his striking is solid, he’s going to be a step behind Holland. I think Holland will be the faster fighter and he’s the longer fight. If it touches the ground, Holland’s Jiu Jitsu is very good and I think he’ll get the better of the grappling. This fight seems setup for a Holland highlight and I think we will get one in the first two rounds.

Prediction: Kevin Holland by TKO