With the withdrawal of former UFC welterweight title challenger, Darren Till due to a broken collarbone, streaking Italian contender, Marvin Vettori is now slated to headline the April 10th. UFC on ABC 2 event against recent UFC Vegas 22 headliner, Kevin Holland on short-notice.
Reports emerged Monday night that Till had been forced to withdraw from his second straight attempted Octagon return, following a December injury that ruled him from a UFC Vegas 16 headliner against Jack Hermansson.
On that occasion, Holland was expected to match with Hermansson on short-notice, until a positive COVID-19 test result forced his removal from proceedings, with the aforenoted, Vettori replacing Holland and taking a unanimous decision victory over Hermansson — extending his winning streak to four fights.
Recently headlining UFC Vegas 22 earlier this month, California native, Holland suffered his first loss in five Octagon outings — dropping a one-sided unanimous decision defeat to division mainstay, Derek Brunson over five rounds. News of the short-notice pairing of Vettori and Holland was first reported on the Vettori podcast.
Taking his fourth consecutive victory with a unanimous judging win over Hermansson in December, former Venator FC welterweight best, Vettori added the grappling talent to a winning run which consists of a rear-naked choke win over Karl Roberson, and a pair of decision successes against both Andrew Sanchez and Cezar Ferreira.
For Riverside striker, Holland, the 28-year-old turned in a record-setting 2020 — becoming the sole middleweight in promotional history to lodge a 5-0 record in a calendar year.
Beginning his eye-catching run with a May knockout over Anthony Hernandez, Holland then stopped Joaquin Buckley, before taking a split decision win over Darren Stewart, and a submission to slam stoppage over Charlie Ontiveros.
Matching with former Strikeforce middleweight champion, Jacare Souza on short-notice at UFC 256 on December 12th. — Holland scoring one of the most innovative finishes in recent memory, scoring a massive knockout win over the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu icon from the bottom.
