Get Kevin Holland a new nickname ... 'cause "Big Mouth" won't be running when he fights Saturday night, telling TMZ Sports his sole focus is whooping Marvin Vettori's ass.
28-year-old Holland received an onslaught of criticism -- from fans to Dana White -- for the nonstop crap talk during his unanimous decision loss to Derek Brunson only 19 days ago.
Holland's stepping up on short notice to fight Vettori -- the 27-year old, 6th-ranked UFC middleweight -- and we asked if he was gonna press pause on the trash talk.
"Yeah, I mean ultimately, I go in there and get the job done and then we'll see what happens after that, but it's like a whole lot of talking that night, I don't see that happening. Go in there, get the job done and then we can talk about it after."
It's an interesting dilemma ... MMA fans loved Holland's brashness when he was winning (he fought and won 5 times in 2020!!) -- but turned on him when he talked and lost.
If you’re wondering how @Trailblaze2top earned the nickname “Big Mouth”... 😅 #UFCVegas22 pic.twitter.com/NXg8984t0v
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 18, 2021
So, moral of the story for Kevin? Win. This. Fight.
"I just got a job to do. The job is to put Vettori away in a nice fashion."
As for any bad blood with White ... Holland says everything's cool with the UFC honcho.
"I appreciate Dana for being a real individual that he is, not biting his tongue and saying how he feels. Ya know I respect it. No hard feeling on my behalf ever."