The Comeback Kid: Kurt Holobaugh's Remarkable Journey in the UFC

Kurt Holobaugh celebrates after defeating Austin Hubbard (Photo by Paul Rutherford/Getty Images)

UFC lightweight Kurt Holobaugh has had his fair share of trials and tribulations throughout his professional fighting career. He was let go from the UFC not once but twice and clawed his way back to the largest MMA promotion through hard work and never giving up on himself. He spoke with RG.org in an exclusive interview about his journey from regional fighter to three-time UFC fighter and Ultimate Fighter winner.

Holobaugh has been doing this fighting thing for a long time, longer than many may think, “I’ve been doing this a long time and it’s actually my third stint in the UFC. I made my UFC debut back in 2013 on the same card as Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen”.

He is one of the few not just to make it back to the UFC once but he make it two more times, and his road to redemption came through The Utimate Fighter which gave him his third opportunity in his professional fighting career:

“I’ve been in and out taking the hard roads back, and there’s not a lot of guys that’s made it back to the UFC twice, much less three times, and there probably won’t be a lot of them doing it after me. It’s such a hard thing to accomplish”.

Not only did he make it back to the UFC but he is coming off of a victory over Contender Series alumni Kaynan Kruschewsky that many believed deserved Fight of the Night honors. That marked only his second win inside the Octagon but Holobaugh feels like he’s just getting started,  

“I feel like I’m the best I’ve been in my life. At 37 years old, I still feel like I am getting better. I’m at a point where I have the confidence to fight with these other guys in the UFC and beat these other guys. My last fight with Kaynan Kruschewsky was a tough test. He’s a tough dude. Everybody is so high on him and his whole gym, The Fighting Nerds, right now”.

Kruschewsky was a tall task as he was a very experienced fighter at 15-2 coming into that fight, and Holobaugh made it look easy in there. Now, the question is, where does Holobaugh go from here?

He is a very experienced fighter and going against newcomers and prospects doesn’t make much sense at this stage of his career because he still has title aspirations, but Holobaugh isn’t picking and choosing his fights. He is taking what the UFC gives him and is willing to go toe-to-toe with whoever steps into the Octagon across from him,

“I’m sitting back waiting on a phone call. I’ve already reached out to my manager telling them, ‘Hey, I’m ready to go, give me something in November, something in December’ They’ve got some pretty big cards for the end of the year.”  

He does have his eyes set on one of the big fight cards coming up that he believes he has some business to attend to, “I feel like I got some unfinished business in Madison Square Garden [UFC 308], so that would be cool to get on that card”.

The ‘unfinished business’ he refers to was his fight against Shane Burgos, where he knocked Burgos down, almost finishing him, until he got caught in a slick armbar from Burgos, ultimately losing the fight in the first round.

Holobaugh is a man of the people, and he’s always looking to put on a show for the fight fans every time he steps inside the Octagon, and he stays true to his kill-or-be-killed type of attitude.

He has a message for the fight fans who are excited to see him back inside the Octagon: