UFC’s Kevin Holland denies being Dana White’s ‘$11 million man’ — then admits it

· Yahoo Sports

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - OCTOBER 18: Kevin Holland has his hands wrapped prior to his fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Rogers Arena on October 18, 2025 in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC)

Mystery solved?

Visit freshyourfeel.org for more information.

Season 10 of Contender Series is currently underway, with three weeks already in the books (results here). For the past two weeks, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO Dana White has been boasting about something he rarely discusses publicly: fighter pay.

During the Week 2 post-fight press conference, White revealed how much money fighters who graduated from Contender Series have collectively earned in UFC.

“I’ve got one for you that I wanted to share with you guys,” White told reporters. “This thing started in July 2017. From that date until today, the fighters who have made it into the UFC from the Contender Series have made $225.3 million. Talk about an opportunity.”

In the grand scheme of things, $225.3 million spread across nine years and hundreds of fighters might be a drop in the bucket compared to what UFC athletes should be earning, so perhaps it isn’t quite the flex White believes it is.

Nevertheless, it is still a substantial amount of money.

Following Week 3 on Tuesday night, White dropped another fascinating fighter-pay nugget.

“This show has paid fighters who have come off it, like, $225 million over the last 10 years, and one of the guys who never fought for a world title has made over $11 million,” White said. “Staying active and keeping yourself out there and in everybody’s face is not only good financially, but you have a very limited amount of time to make a lot of money in any sport. So, staying active is the move. I love it.”

Most fans immediately pointed toward Kevin Holland.

Although Holland did not receive a contract after winning on Contender Series in 2018, he remains an alumnus of the program and joined UFC shortly afterward.

“Trailblazer” has competed an incredible 29 times since joining the promotion, collected 10 post-fight bonuses and headlined three UFC events. No other non-champion from Contender Series has come close to matching his activity level.

Apparently, however, Holland is not White’s mystery man—or at least that is what he initially claimed.

“That fighter’s not me,” Holland said in an Instagram Story. “I’m just now waking up. I’ll tell you all right now, that fighter’s not me. Don’t listen to that s—t.”

Holland also responded to a graphic about White’s comments, writing, “Boss talking about someone else. Wish it was me.”

Mystery solved, right?

Not exactly.

In a follow-up video, Holland jokingly introduced himself as the “$11 million man” and seemingly walked back his original denial.

“Yo, it’s the $11 million man,” Holland said. “I’m here to tell y’all right now, I may have made $11 million, but I’ve had four kids, paid taxes and got divorced three times. S—t, it’s f—ked up.”

Whether Holland is simply trolling or trying to prevent fans from pocket-watching him, the follow-up video did little to stop the speculation.

Other possible candidates include Dan Ige, Geoff Neal and Brendan Allen, but Holland comfortably surpasses all three in UFC fights and bonuses.

Until White names the fighter himself, the identity of UFC’s “$11 million man” technically remains a mystery.

But all roads still lead to “Trailblazer.”

Read full story at source