UFC Vegas 23 has a new main event. After Darren Till was forced out of his scheduled Middleweight bout against Marvin Vettori — set for April 10, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada — with a broken collarbone, Kevin Holland got the call up to fill the void.
“Trail Blazer” immediately raised his hand and volunteered to face “The Italian Dream” on just a couple of week’s notice, and days later all sides came to an agreement to make the fight happen according to ESPN.
Holland (ranked No. 10) is just two weeks removed from a tough loss to Derek Brunson at UFC Vegas 22, which snapped his five fight win streak (see it again here). Quick turnarounds are nothing new for Holland, who competed a whopping six times in the span of 10 months from May 2020 to March 2021, going 5-1 in the span.
As for Vettori (ranked No. 6), he is currently riding a four fight win streak with his last win coming against Jack Hermansson in Dec. 2020. His lone defeat in the last three years came at the hands of current UFC Middleweight campion, Israel Adesanya, losing a razor-thin split decision in April 2018.
A win for “The Italian Dream” should get him into the Top 5 and set him up for at least a title eliminator fight, possibly against Derek Brunson. As for Holland, if he can end Vettori’s momentum, it could help him get back in the good graces of Dana White.
Predictions?