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The final 2022 UFC Fight Night event to be hosted in front of a full-sized arena worth of fans has its main event. The main event of UFC Orlando, scheduled for Saturday, December 3, 2022, at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, will feature former 170-pound championship challenger Stephen Thompson taking against UFC welterweight Kevin Holland, who recently came out of a brief retirement.
After suffering a discouraging defeat to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279 earlier this year in Las Vegas, Holland (23-8, 1 NC) gave up the sport. Speaking on his podcast, Holland said “I’m officially retired” unless “unless something super-duper magical pops up.” However, Holland confirmed that he is battling Thompson on a later episode of his podcast. However, it appears the promotion was successful in luring him back by placing him against Thompson.
Both of them dislike wrestling. Before being booked, Thompson complained that it was hard to find a fight that both he and the UFC were excited about. Now that he has one, Thompson will fight again for the first time in almost a year as he attempts to end a two-bout losing streak to Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad.
Less than three months after suffering a fast submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279, Holland is scheduled to make a comeback. He changed his fight from Daniel Rodriguez to the five-round co-main event with only 36 hours' notice. Shortly later, Holland hinted at his impending retirement on Instagram. It was his first defeat in the UFC at welterweight and ended a two-fight winning streak that saw the finishes of Tim Means and Alex Oliveira.
On Instagram on Wednesday, Holland made the implication that his talk of retiring was merely a charade.
UFC Orlando will also include the welterweight showdown between Rafael dos Anjos and Bryan Barberena, Derek Brunson and Jack Hermansson collide at welterweight while Clay Guida and Scott Holtzman throw leather at 155 pounds.