Kevin Holland Steps Up To Replace Darren Till, Faces Marvin Vettori at UFC on ABC 2

Holland recently fought on March 20th, and by fighting Vettori on April 10th, he will be making a 21-day turn-around. While this isn’t the fastest turn-around we’ve ever seen in UFC history, it is unique in the fact that Holland is making a quick turn-around after coming off of a loss. According to history, this isn’t something we see happen very often, as fighters usually do this off of wins.

A Battle of Savagery: Marvin Vettori vs Kevin Holland

Marvin Vettori (16-4, 6-2 UFC)

“The Italian Dream” has been brutalizing his way thru the middleweight division and is currently riding a four-fight win streak. Vettori first made a start to his professional MMA career in promotions such as UCMMA and Venator FC.

Acquiring a 10-2 record ahead of his UFC debut at UFC 202, Vettori would struggle early into his UFC career. Going 2-2-1 in his first five fights with the promotion, “The Italian Dream” met his toughest opponent in Israel Adesanya at UFC on Fox 29. Vettori and Adesanya would battle it out inside a back-and-forth three-round fight, but ultimately Adesanya would be declared the victor on the judges’ scorecards.

After that bump in the road to Marvin Vettori vs Kevin Holland, “The Italian Dream” would go on that previously mentioned four fight win streak. Most notably defeating the likes of Karl Roberson (UFC Vegas 2), and Jack Hermansson (UFC Vegas 16).

Kevin Holland (21-6, 8-3 UFC)

“Trail Blazer” has made a career off of these quick turn-around’s. While he was always a pretty active fighter (fighting on average of three times a year), Holland really stepped it up in 2020 by fighting five times.

After a rear-naked choke submission loss to Brendan Allen at UFC on ESPN 6, Holland would start off 2020 by bouncing back from that loss with a KO/TKO victory over Anthony Hernandez. A month later, Holland faced Joaquin Buckley at UFC Vegas 6 and won with a highlight reel KO/TKO finish. “Trail Blazer” wasn’t stopping there, he defeated Darren Stewart (UFC Vegas 11), and Charlie Ontiveros (UFC Vegas 12) in rapid succession. With those four wins, Holland fought four months consecutively, spicing up an already flaming hot win streak.

Taking November of 2020 off, we wouldn’t see “Trail Blazer” return on the road to Marvin Vettori vs Kevin Holland until December of 2020. Taking on Ronaldo Souza, this fight was the biggest test of Holland’s career so far, and he would pass with flying colors. In a shocking turn of events, “Trail Blazer” would finish “Jacare” Souza with a flurry of strikes that originated from the bottom full-guard position.

After this transcendent performance, Holland would face Derek Brunson at UFC Vegas 22. Unfortunately for “Trail Blazer”, this was the night that his five fight win streak would end. Brunson would literally smother Holland with his impressive top game, and while Holland had Brunson hurt on the feet several times, he couldn’t find the finish.

The path to Marvin Vettori vs Kevin Holland has gotten rough for “Trail Blazer”, and he hopes to quickly get back into the win column here against Vettori on April 10th.

UFC on ABC 2 Preview

• Middleweight: Marvin Vettori vs Kevin Holland
• Featherweight: Arnold Allen vs Sodiq Yusuff
• Middleweight: Aliaskhab Khizriev vs Kyle Daukaus
• Middleweight: Sam Alvey vs Julian Marquez
• Women’s Strawweight: Nina Ansaroff vs Mackenzie Dern
• Welterweight: Mike Perry vs Daniel Rodriguez
• Lightweight: Jim Miller vs Joe Solecki
• Lightweight: Scott Holtzman vs Mateusz Gamrot
• Women’s Bantamweight: Norma Dumont vs Bea Malecki
• Lightweight: John Makdessi vs Ignacio Bahamondes
• Heavyweight: Yorgan De Castro vs Jarjis Danholbs
• Bantamweight: Jack Shore vs Hunter Azure
• Featherweight: Luis Saldaña vs Jordan Griffin
• Light Heavyweight: Da Un Jung vs William Knight
• Welterweight: Impa Kasanganay vs Sasha Palatnikov

What’s your favorite fight off this Marvin Vettori vs Kevin Holland card? Let us know down below in the comments!

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