UFC fighter Kevin Holland makes a successful return to the welterweight to defeat Gunnar Nelson at the UFC London.
The fighter came in with low strikes before finally going in for a takedown and trying to get a submission, but Nelson kept his defenses and applied impressive grappling maneuvers. Holland recovered quickly and was soon back on his feet, delivering a hard punch that dropped his opponent. He went in for the kill, peppering his opponent with punches and straight jabs until the round came to an end.
Nelson tried to get his opponent back to the canvas in the following rounds, but Holland stayed on his feet and traded jabs until Nelson finally got him to the floor, but he could not do much damage as Holland remained relentless with his strikes and headshots. Back on their feet, Nelson tried for another takedown, but Holland was resistant and fired a knee strike. Nelson was again able to take the fight to the floor and went in for an arm-triangle choke, but Holland managed to slip through and return to his feet. Holland offered no breathing space and hammered his opponent. Nelson barely survived the fight, and by the end, Holland was awarded victory via decision.
“I wasn’t sure which way it was going to go. Gunnar is tough as f*ck,” Holland said after the win. “Everybody says I can’t grapple. I can grapple pretty good as long as the guy isn’t 30 or 40 pounds bigger than me.
“Welterweight’s good for me as far as being a better athlete. If it’s at [170 pounds, I can fight] sometime around July would be nice. If it’s at [185], next week works.”
Due to his win and performance, Holland earned an additional $50,000 POFN bonus. The fighter was not the only one to bag this reward, as Sean Brady, Alexia Thainara, and Shauna Bannon all bagged $50k for their performance at the tournament. Other fights on the card include:
Main Card
Sean Brady def. Leon Edwards via round-four submission (guillotine choke)
Carlos Ulberg def. Jan Blachowicz via unanimous decision
Kevin Holland def. Gunnar Nelson, via unanimous decision
Alexia Thainara def. Molly McCann via round-one submission (rear-naked choke)
Chris Duncan def. Jordan Vucenic via round-two submission (guillotine choke)
Nathaniel Wood def. Morgan Charriere, via unanimous decision
Preliminary Card
Chris Padilla def. Jai Herbert via split decision
Lone’er Kavanagh def. Felipe dos Santos via unanimous decision
Marcin Tybura def. Mick Parkin via unanimous decision
Christian Leroy Duncan, def. Andrey Pulyaev via unanimous decision
Shauna Bannon def. Puja Tomar via round-two submission (armbar)
Caolan Loughran def. Nathan Fletcher via split decision
Kaue Fernandes def. Guram Kutateladze, via unanimous decision
