Kvein Holland has a message for fighters complaining about bad refereeing: ‘Man up!’

MVP Boxing |  
MIAMI, FLORIDA - APRIL 11: Kevin Holland of the United States grapples with Randy Brown of Jamaica in a welterweight bout during UFC 327 at the Kaseya Center on April 11, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Kevin Holland is getting sick and tired of UFC fighters crying about referees after a loss.

Poor refereeing has been a problem in the UFC for years. At this point it’s just expected that you get a few eye pokes and low blows per fight before a point will get deducted. Grab the cage? C’mon, let go. Hooking an opponent’s gloves or pulling on their shorts will maybe earn you a hand swat. Getting punched in the back of the head? Really your own fault for moving.

We know referees kinda suck, we know rules aren’t enforced, and we know things won’t change. In Holland’s opinion, fighters need to accept the current reality instead of complaining about it endlessly.

“I think we’re all thinking about the [Alex] Pereira situation,” Holland said in a recent interview with MMA Fighting. “I remember Jamahal [Hill] was crying about [Herb Dean] stepping in between them [at UFC 300] and not giving them a proper reset. Nobody said nothing about that. I think it’s just the same.”

Holland has had his own issues with Herb Dean, who he says didn’t stop any of the shorts-grabbing Khamzat Chimaev was doing during their fight.

“We all know what we step in there to do,” he continued. “And they’re there to protect us, and sometimes they can protect us fully and sometimes they can’t. At the end of the day, before the fight gets started, they say, ‘Protect yourself at all times,’ and we have to protect ourselves. It’s part of the game.”

“This is what we signed up to do … Win, lose or draw, you signed up to do this. So just take what you get.”

Holland declared that fighters were setting a bad example by offloading responsibility for their losses on officials.

“I’ve got two sons, I don’t have two daughters,” he said. “I don’t want my sons to grow up thinking it’s OK to cry and complain and bitch about stuff. There’s no reason to bitch and complain. Do better next time and figure it out. Man up.”

It used to be that post-loss excuses were looked down upon, but these days we’re seeing more and more fighters lean into blaming referees for their losses. Is that because cheating has become so endemic, or because the latest crop of athletes can’t handle defeat with grace? We’ll leave that to you to decide.