Kevin
Holland apologized to Donald Trump for what he perceived to be
a previous snub after his first-round submission win over Michal
Oleksiejczuk at UFC
302.
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Holland survived a knockdown from Oleksiejczuk to secure an armbar,
which appeared to injure the Pole’s arm and forced referee Herb Dean to
step in at the 1:34 mark of the opening frame. “Trailblazer”
immediately jumped over the Octagon and spoke to Trump, who was in
attendance for the event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New
Jersey.
Holland later revealed that he actually apologized to Trump for not
greeting him in a previous instance. Holland noted that his first
instinct is to always speak to
UFC executives seated cageside.
“I just apologized because the first time that I hopped out of the
cage when he was there, I didn’t speak to him,” Holland said during
a post-fight media scrum. “And no disrespect to
anybody ever, the person who signs my checks is usually the first
person I’m trying to talk to. You know what I mean, Dana [White],
Hunter [Campbell] they sign my checks.”
Holland was referring to UFC 287 in April 2023, when Israel
Adesanya avenged his three losses against Alex
Pereira with a knockout win in the headliner. Trump, who is
known to frequent major UFC pay-per-views, was in attendance for
the event at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Holland put on a
striking clinic en route a third-round KO win over Santiago
Ponzinibbio on the same card. While Holland jumped over the
Octagon then as well, he only spoke to White, with Trump sitting
beside the UFC CEO.