Marvin Vettori proved yet again that he’s a top contender in the middleweight division earlier today (Sat., Apr. 10, 2021) at UFC Vegas 23 live on ABC/ESPN+, ESPN from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev., when he outlasted Kevin Holland for a unanimous decision win.
Holland looked sharp from the opening bell with whipping leg kicks, straight punches from range, and solid takedown defense. Vettori eventually scored a takedown but wasn’t able to land much of anything. Vettori regained top control in the second and didn’t let Holland go. The Italian contender was able to land heavy ground-and-pound and ended up busting up Holland’s eye.
In Round 3, Vettori easily scored another takedown and quickly worked his way over into side control. From there, he pressed Holland with a tight arm-triangle choke, but “Big Mouth” defended nicely. Despite some solid offense on the feet to begin the fourth round Holland couldn’t stop Vettori from taking him down again. Vettori easily worked inside and gained top control to ride out most of the frame.
Holland was able to sting Vettori early into the fifth round but Vettori went back to his bread-and-butter and scored another takedown. “Big Mouth” didn’t have enough left in the tank to change his fortune so late into the fight and Vettori was able to walk away with the easy decision on the heels of 11 takedowns, which is a new UFC middleweight record for a single fight.
Check out the highlights below courtesy of UFC/ESPN:
For complete UFC Vegas 23 results and coverage click here.