Jacobe Smith: 'I'm Bound to Smack Kevin Holland in His Face'

The unbeaten co-main fighter at UFC Vegas 123 has Randy Brown in front of him tonight — and a feud with Kevin Holland that has survived two cancelled fights and a war of private messages.

Jacobe Smith has the biggest fight of his career tonight. You would not know it from his fight week.

Smith (13-0) faces Randy Brown in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 123 at Meta Apex, a short-notice step-up against a veteran of twenty-eight professional fights. But the name Smith kept coming back to all week belongs to a man who is not on the card: Kevin Holland.

The two welterweights were supposed to settle this in the cage — twice. They were booked at UFC Oklahoma City in July, and again at UFC 332 on October 3. Holland withdrew with an injury both times. Smith stayed on the October card and stopped replacement Bruce Whitehead in the first round, his fourth finish in four UFC fights. Tonight is his second fight this month.

What happened between the two men stayed private until Smith opened up about it this week. After his last knockout, he told UFC on Paramount, he messaged Holland directly: "I want you next, boy." The exchange ran from there — neither man went public with it at the time — and by Holland's account, as Smith tells it, Smith talks on social media and does nothing when they meet in person. Smith flipped that straight back: "You're literally describing yourself right now. I'm not in his DM's talking — he's in mine, running his mouth."

Then came the line that ends any thought of this cooling down. "If I see him I'm bound to smack him in his face, outside of the cage. I don't like the dude," Smith said. "And if we can't get in the cage, I'm gonna be the one doing the talking, I can guarantee you." To Full Send MMA he put the sporting version of the same point: "I'll never like him. I want that win on my record just to tell him I'm the big dog here."

First, though, there is Brown. The Jamaican veteran (20-8) has been on the UFC roster since 2016 and arrives on the first losing skid of his career — a decision loss to Holland himself at UFC 327 in April, and a knockout loss to Gabriel Bonfim before that. He is not treating tonight as a coronation. "The prediction is pain," Brown told MMA Junkie. "I'm going to open him up, and we're going to get this W."

Smith is the clear favorite, and a win makes the Holland fight the obvious next move: Holland (29-15, 1 NC) is booked against Uros Medic at UFC 334 on November 14 at Madison Square Garden. But feuds do not get settled in interviews, and nothing between Smith and Holland is booked. Tonight, Smith has to beat the man actually standing across from him.