Kevin Holland and Jack Della Maddalena squared off in a Welterweight contest earlier tonight (Sat., Sept. 16, 2023) at Noche UFC inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Following a competitive battle, Della Maddalena was named the victor.
Della Maddalena opened the fight with a couple low calf kick connections, and he backed Holland off afterward with a combination. “Trailblazer” answered with a low kick of his own. Holland latched onto his opponent’s head and landed clean from within the clinch. “JDM” responded with some ripping body hooks when Holland’s back hit the fence. Holland kept turning his back — not a good idea.
Both men trade heavy blows at close distance. Holland landed a couple crisp counter punches at range, and he was active with his low kicks as well. By the end of the round, Holland was doing better work with his jab s well. That said, the combinations and body work of the Australian were the most significant connections of the opening round.
Lots of kicks from both men opened the second frame. Della Maddalena closed forward a couple times and landed with big shots, but in general, Holland was doing well in keeping his opponent off him. A couple times, Holland’s counter right hand scored too. Holland upped his volume more and threw in longer combinations, two habits which started to pay off more for the veteran.
Heavy combination scored for Della Maddalena at about the 90 second mark. Holland’s first shot of the fight is stuffed, and the two trade elbows on the break. Holland connected on another counter right then nearly swept him to the floor at the bell to close a competitive round.
“JDM” starts off the final frame with a clean right hand connection. Holland was putting forth a lot of volume again, convincing his opponent to cover up. Holland connected with a spinning elbow but also ate a return shot in the same exchange. Della Maddalena scored with another nice combination along the fence. Holland absorbed the blow and fired right back, connecting with an elbow. Back-and-forth the two exchanged at a fairly even rate, and neither man ever looked particularly bothered by any of the shots. The Australian did finish strong, cracking Holland with a good lunging left and flurrying combination in the final seconds of the round.
This bout never really heated up, it just consistently simmered for the full 15 minutes. Still, it was a high-volume kickboxing battle in which both men showed some interesting looks, so while it wasn’t the barnburner most were hoping for, there have been far worse co-main events!
Ultimately, two of the three judges sided with Jack Della Maddalena, who was the more efficient and seemingly more powerful hitter. Who should the Australian boxer face next?
Result: Jack Della Maddalena defeats Kevin Holland via split-decision
For complete Noche UFC: “Grasso vs. Shevchenko” results and play-by-play, click HERE!