Kevin Holland and Daniel Rodriguez meet Saturday on the main card of UFC 318 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
Last event: 4-2
UFC main cards, 2025: 68-50-1
Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez UFC 318 preview
Holland (28-13 MMA, 15-10 UFC) is building serious momentum as he continues his hyper-active 2025 campaign. After starting the year with a first-round submission loss to Reinier de Ridder in January, “Trailblazer” bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Gunnar Nelson in March, followed by a second-round submission of Vicente Luque last month at UFC 316. … Rodriguez (19-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) also enters on the heels of back-to-back wins. Recently on a rough skid of three straight losses, “D-Rod” has rebounded with a split decision win over Alex Morono last October, followed by a third-round finish of Santiago Ponzinibbio in May.
Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez UFC 318 expert pick, prediction
Filling out the main card is a welterweight fight between Kevin Holland and Daniel Rodriguez.
I know these two have been booked to fight one another at multiple points in their career, but this booking kind of feels like a waste for the Holland side of things, if I’m being honest.
Although I got a lot of respect for the gameness of Rodriguez, I believe that the Los Angeleno has been on a noticeable decline in recent years, seemingly losing some speed and smoothness to his game.
Add in the fact that Holland traditionally does well opposite southpaws (officially standing at 10-3-1 opposite UFC-level lefties), and I suspect that the stage is set for “Trailblazer” to land one of his patented right hands down the pike given the open-stance dynamic at play.
The pick is Holland by knockout in Round 1.
Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez UFC 318 odds
The oddsmakers and the public heavily favor the younger fighter, listing Holland -600 and Rodriguez +425 via FanDuel.
Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez UFC 318 start time, how to watch
Holland and Rodriguez are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 11:10 p.m. ET. The fight broadcasts live on ESPN and ESPN+.
