Update April 1st, 2021 pic.twitter.com/IAkryJWTZx
— Kevin Holland (@Trailblaze2top)
April 1, 2021
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. A standout Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight has
embraced the old adage of “ask and ye shall receive.” The
UFC on ABC 2 main event was minus a competitor after Darren Till
broke his collarbone earlier this week. Immediately after this
news broke, Kevin
Holland (21-6) spoke up, saying he would take the fight against
Marvin
Vettori (16-4-1). Per Holland on social
media, and then confirmed by multiple
outlets, the two middleweights will now headline the April 10
card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Holland last competed at UFC on ESPN 21 on March 20, where he
dropped a decision to Derek
Brunson to snap a five-fight win streak. The Texas native will
tie a record held by Deiveson
Figueiredo and Michael
Bisping for the shortest turnaround between two headliner
spots. Figueiredo served as the main attraction for both UFC 255
and UFC 266, 21 days apart, while Bisping fought atop UFC 217 and
came back three weeks later to lose to Kelvin
Gastelum on UFC Fight Night 122. Before his one-sided loss to
Brunson, Holland rose through the rankings by knocking out Anthony
Hernandez, Joaquin
Buckley and Ronaldo
Souza.
Vettori is currently on the longest winning streak of his UFC
tenure, taking a trio of decisions over Cezar
Ferreira, Andrew
Sanchez and Jack
Hermansson, while also tapping out Karl
Roberson along the way. When he faced Hermansson, he became the
first Italian-born fighter to ever headline a UFC card. The Kings
MMA fighter’s lone defeat in the last few years came against
Israel
Adesanya, where he dropped a narrow split verdict to the future
champ.
UFC on ABC 2 will take place on April 10 at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas, with Vettori vs. Holland now the marquee matchup. Additional
main card pairings include a featherweight scrap between Sodiq
Yusuff and Arnold
Allen, as well as a middleweight clash between Kyle
Daukaus and Aliaskhab
Khizriev.
