UFC Vegas 23 lost its main card after UFC middleweight Darren Till pulled out of his fight against Marvin Vettori due to injury. However, the show must go on. And UFC has a replacement for Darren Till in the name of Kevin Holland.
The no 10 middleweight in UFC, Kevin Holland recently fought Derek Brunson. The outcome of that fight did not go in the favor of BigMouth. On the other hand, in The Italian Dream, Marvin Vettori has been on a tear in the division ever since his loss to Israel Adesanya.
Vettori is on a 4 fight winning streak and is coming off an impressive win over Jack Hermansson. Though he has looked good in his last few fights he is still a few steps away from a title shot. With contenders such as Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa, and Kelvin Gastelum in the rankings, Vettori will need to secure big wins over top-ranked opponents.
Nevertheless, the fans will get an exciting middleweight fight as the main event of the next fight night card. But, is it a smart decision by Kevin Holland who is coming off his first loss after a 5 round win streak?
Kevin Holland vs Marvin Vettori Prediction
Kevin Holland has built a reputation for himself as the guy who is ready to fight anyone, anytime, and anyplace, After all, that’s how he got into UFC, by taking a short notice fight against Thiago Santos. But, Marvin Vettori is not the kind of opponent whom you want to fight on short notice.
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Derek Brunson exposed a lot of holes in the skillset of Kevin Holland in his last fight. In his fights prior to the fight against Brunson, Holland showed some impressive ground game. ANd it seemed that he was improving with time. However, Brunson was able to dominate him on the ground easily. Though Holland had some success on the ground in the final round it was not enough.
Derek Brunson was taking Holland down with ease at times. Agreed, that it was not one of the best performances by Kevin Holland. But, when Brunson was on top of Holland in the grappling exchanges, Holland was making some horrible mistakes. And you can not afford to make the same mistakes against Marvin Vettori who is a far superior grappler than Derek Brunson.
It also has to be noted that Derek Brunson gassed out quickly in that fight. But, Vettori will be able to fight at a high pace for five rounds. However, cardio has already been an issue for Holland, and on short notice, he might struggle against Vettori if the fight goes to the later rounds.
What went wrong for Kevin Holland against Derek Brunson?
Kevin Holland will certainly have the reach and striking advantage against Marvin Vettori. But, he also had the same advantage over Brunson and he got outclassed by Brunson. Stylistically, this is not a good matchup for Holland. Holland can give a tough fight against the top middleweights of the world. But, he needs to improve his takedown defense and ground game before taking on someone as good as Vettori.
The only way Holland can beat Vettori is by knocking him out early in the fight. But, as the fight progresses Vettori will be able to do some serious damage on the ground and win the fight by submission.
Prediction: Marvin Vettori beats Kevin Holland by submission