Kevin Holland ended his short-lived “retirement” to fight karate specialist, Stephen Thompson, in UFC Orlando’s main event this weekend (Sat., Dec. 3, 2022) inside Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. Before then, let’s take a trip down Memory Lane to see one of “Trailblazer’s” best performances inside the Octagon to date. Back in 2020, Holland found himself staring down knockout specialist, Joaquin Buckley, when they locked horns at UFC Vegas 6 in “Sin City.”
As expected, the two men were content on letting the action play out on the feet, going blow-for-blow in the center of the cage. Holland won the exchanges early and often, dropping “New Mansa” with a right hand down the pipe in the first round. The second round was much of the same with Holland using his big reach advantage to stifle Buckley, keeping him from closing the distance.
Early in round three, however, Holland blasted Buckley with another straight right hand that knocked his mouthpiece out and put him flat on his back. After hesitating for a moment instead of jumping in to finish off the job, the referee did it for him by putting an end to the bout.
While Buckley wasn’t out cold, it was the right call to make.
Since then, Holland has racked up a 5-3-1 record and was last seen getting steamrolled by Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279 a few months ago. Now, he will look to get back in the winner’s circle when he tangos with Thompson, who is in desperate need of a win after dropping two in a row.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Orlando fight card right here, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN/ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET.
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