Michal Oleksiejczuk hasn’t changed his opinion on the conclusion of his fight against Kevin Holland at UFC 302 this past weekend (June 1, 2024).
UFC 302 may have underdelivered as a whole in the promotion’s return to Newark, New Jersey. Despite that, we still got at least one fairly violent finish.
Perennial fan favorite, Holland, returned to the Middleweight division against Poland’s Oleksiejczuk (19-8, 1 no contest) on the main card. The result was a quick but entertaining affair that saw Holland knocked down before he locked on a smooth armbar that he executed to the point of a break and victory (watch highlights). Regarding the break, at least that’s what the world assumed it was, Oleksiejczuk’s limb bent in a way it wasn’t supposed to, and referee, Herb Dean, called off the action without a tap. Oleksiejczuk protested the stoppage at the moment and still doesn’t think it was the right call.
“I feel good,” Oleksiejczuk told MMA Junkie. “My mental is OK. My arm is not broken. I think that I want a fight in a few months. I will be ready. … I didn’t tap. My arm is not broken. I felt great in this fight. This stoppage is not good. It’s not correct, in my opinion. … In my opinion, the stoppage is not correct. I think that if the fight was longer, my chance in this fight is [better].
“This is my career,” he continued. “This is my choice. I am really a warrior. I want to fight every time. In my opinion, this is my choice: tap or not. … I don’t know but my opinion is very simple. I am a warrior and this is my work. I want to show the best fights. I want to show very exciting fights. That’s all.”
Oleksiejczuk, 29, noted that his magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results have yet to come back. If he is indeed without damage to his arm, the Pol may very well be the real-life version of Gumby. Ultimately, the result will stand as a first round submission loss and his second in a row after a rear-naked choke loss to Michel Pereira at UFC 299 in March 2024 (watch highlights).