Ed Herman is ready to punch Kevin Holland in the face for his comments regarding their possible last-minute fight.

The middleweight veteran Ed Herman could’ve fought Kevin Holland at UFC Vegas 5 last weekend after Holland’s opponent, Trevin Giles, fainted and the bout was called off. Likewise, Herman’s fight against Gerald Meerschaert was canceled because his opponent tested positive for COVID-19. Despite the apparent possibility of a matchup, “Short Fuse” revealed that he was told by that they couldn’t find a replacement.

“Basically, I was told my fight is off,” Herman said to MMA Fighting. “I said can you guarantee my fight? Can you find anybody else? They said no.”

Holland blamed Herman for not accepting the UFC’s attempts to pair them for a fight, despite being in different weight classes.

I repeat. Knock knock red head. Let’s go bucko. https://t.co/D1skEe0rEu

— Kevin Holland (@Trailblaze2top) August 2, 2020

Never understood why redheads never had a thing for me. @EdHermanufc 🤷‍♀️

But on the real, thinking of @trevingiles right now and I hope all is ok.

— Kevin Holland (@Trailblaze2top) August 2, 2020

Herman shut down claims that he is trying to avoid a matchup, despite admitting that straight after his fight cancellation he started drinking cocktails and didn’t immediately respond to calls from the UFC matchmaker.

“I kind of want to punch Kevin in the face if he’s still talking sh*t,” Herman said. “I would have fought him, no problem, and he’s trying to act like I’m afraid of him. I don’t know what’s up with that.

“I started drinking margaritas in the pool and had my phone off,” he said.

According to Herman, when he checked his phone at approximately 6:30 pm, he had several missed calls from Dana White and UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard.

“I called Mick immediately, and he said, ‘Hey, can you come and fight Kevin Holland?’ I’m like, ‘Yep I can, but I’ve had about three margaritas,’” Herman said. “And they said, ‘Well, we can’t really do that.’ That was the first I’d heard of it.

“I would have loved to have stepped in there and fought Kevin so we both had the opportunity to go make some money. That’s why we’re doing this. For me, it was just a big punch to the face and the gut. I couldn’t believe what had happened and lost my focus from that point. I hit in the pool and the margaritas. That kind of f*cked me.

“I should have stayed in place. I wish they’d said, ‘Hey, stick around, something could happen, stay here,’ but the less level-headed side of me… I probably should have done that, but I didn’t. I was just frustrated.”

Holland wasn’t too impressed by Herman’s defence and called him out again on Twitter yesterday.

Too slow bro. Slow to answer your phone last week. Slow to sign up to fight this week. Probably slow at sipping on those margaritas also. @Mickmaynard2 @danawhite https://t.co/f6Gcdz5UP8

— Kevin Holland (@Trailblaze2top) August 5, 2020

“Too slow bro,” he said. “Slow to answer your phone last week. Slow to sign up to fight this week. Probably slow at sipping on those margaritas also.”