The main event of UFC Vegas 23 witnessed Kevin Holland square off against Marvin Vettori. While Kevin showed a wide range of skills that he has at his disposal, still Vettori came out at the top. Despite showing signs of a great performance, Holland wasn’t able to respond to the Italian’s wrestling.
This proved to be the deciding factor as Marvin won via a unanimous decision. The loss further meant that Kevin Holland has now lost 2 headliner fights in a span of 21-days. ‘The Trailblazer’ who’s infamous for his mid-fight trash talk showed a different side as he was respectful and gracious after defeat.
Kevin walked over to Marvin, shook his hand and said, “I believe in you just like I used to in everybody else. We’re all fighters here, you know what I mean.” To this Kevin replied, “I respect that.”
Kevin Holland celebrates his KO victory over Jacare Souza of Brazil in their middleweight bout during the UFC 256. (Credits – Getty Images)
Why was Kevin Holland upset?
Marvin Vettori broke the record for best takedown endeavours in the middleweight division against Kevin Holland. Being forced to bear those takedowns, Holland’s disappointment is certainly justifiable. After the fight, the ‘Trailblazer’ discussed the plans he has for the future.
He said, “We’ll see what it is. You know, I just honestly don’t know. Go and spend some time with DC (Daniel Cormier) for sure. Work on some of that wrestling things. Go work on wrestling, of course, gotta stop some of these takedowns.
I am not gonna change the fighter I am and try and become a wrestler just cause all these guys wanna wrestle. I like to strike, I like to bang, I will just do a better job at keeping the fight up on its feet and deliver some more knockouts to the people.” He further added.
Kevin Holland definitely didn’t have the opportunity to improve his hooking abilities. However, with Daniel Cormier on board, Kevin can expect his grappling skills to improve.
