The highly anticipated Kevin Holland vs Kyle Daukaus met with an unfortunate end as a brutal headbutt in the opening round forced referee Dan Miragliotta to call it a No-contest. However, controversy brews as referee Dan Miragliotta let the fight continue after Holland fell face-first on the ground due to the impact of the headbutt. Holland was able to recover quickly but failed to overcome the submission attempts from Kyle Daukaus, who was eventually able to submit him with a standing rear-naked choke.
Needless to say, opinions that are coming in after the fight are quite mixed, making one wonder whether the referee should have really called the fight a No Contest. Many fight fans took to social media to share how Daukaus should have been awarded the victory. It’s not the first time that a headbutt has caused a significant impact on the outcome of the fight.
Kyle Daukaus was not quite impressed either at the decision, citing his disagreement in the post-fight interview.
Kyle Daukaus: ‘If he had got up and KO’d me right after that, it’s on ESPN top 10 tomorrow and the story is about his comeback’
— Oscar Willis (@oscarswillis) October 3, 2021
In the past, David Benavidez has suffered a headbutt in his title fight against Deiveson Figueiredo. Benavidez would go on to lose the fight. Needless to say, a lot of fans put forth the Benavidez fight to argue why Daukaus should have been awarded the win.
The fact that they’re still discussing this after they fought well past the head butt is ridiculous to be honest. If they stop the fight right after the head butt, that’s one thing but Holland fought on. Daukus kept fighting and won by submission, full stop.
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) October 3, 2021
Even former UFC title challenger and analyst Kenny Florian took to Twitter and opined that Dakaus should have been awarded the win. Meanwhile, Rampage Jackson stated that it was the right call for Kevin Holland who would have lost his third straight fight. Holloway is on a two-fight losing streak, losing to Marvin Vettori and Derek Brunson respectively.
Kevin Holland wants a rematch against Kyle Daukaus
It was only Kevin Holland’s resilience that he was able to survive for so long after appearing to blackout from the impact of the headbutt. Soon after the fight came to a close, Kevin Holland challenged Chris Daukaus for a rematch, asking him to run it back once again.
This MW bout ends in a No Contest.
[ #UFCVegas38 | Tune in LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/9WGIctdnz9
— UFC (@ufc) October 3, 2021
Kevin Holland vs Kyle Daukaus had Fight of the Night written all over it, so it’s only safe to assume that the UFC will look to once again book both the fighters against each other. Holland has been known to make quick turnarounds, and if both the fighters can come to terms, it won’t be wrong to say that we could see Holland and Daukaus share the UFC Octagon once again.
Discussion about this post