Roman Dorise and Kevin Holland at UFC 307 ceremonial weigh-in Credit: Dylan Napoleone/Cageside Press
Roman Dorise and Kevin Holland will meet for the second time in a middleweight bout on the main card of UFC 307, with Holland looking for his second straight win since moving back to 185 pounds.
Dorise also moved up a weight class and scored a victory over former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith.
The fight started with Dorise taking the center of the Octagon and Holland circling on the outside. Holland immediately began attacking his opponent’s legs with leg kicks. Kevin was able to catch Dorise’s leg kick and land a few solid strikes in the air. As the rounds progressed, Holland’s swing started to get a little harder. With about three minutes left in the round, Holland threw another leg kick, but Roman caught it and took him down. Dolidze quickly got to work, firing short strikes from the Dutch’s closed guard.
However, Kevin seemed comfortable and was able to prevent himself from taking any significant damage. With less than a minute left in the round, Holland went for an armbar. When Holland spun and went for an armbar, his midsection buckled and appeared to hurt his ribs. He immediately began firing. Dorise seized the opportunity and moved to full mount, landing devastating ground and pound on Kevin. Holland, who was obviously incredibly injured, did a great job. Somehow,
Kevin miraculously survived the round, but was ultimately stopped by his coach from answering the call for the second round after less than a minute. Holland’s ribs were clearly injured and it was the right decision for player safety.
Official result: Romain Doriset def. Kevin Holland TKO (rib injury), round 1, 5:00
