Kevin Holland dropped back down to welterweight and now finds himself back in the win column after defeating Gunnar Nelson at UFC London.
Holland looked to utilize his striking to take control early before being taken down. He remained active while on the ground, including a funny scene of him holding onto Nelson’s arm when the Icelandic veteran lifted him up.
The American nearly scored a victory at the end of the round, dropping Nelson and just barely missing out on a ground-and-pound finish.
Holland continued to show a strong stand-up game, stuffing multiple takedowns and landing several hard-hitting blows. Any Nelson takedown saw the “Trailblazer” quickly shake off.
Kevin Holland Scores Decision Win Over Gunnar Nelson At UFC London
“Gunni” seemed to get a strong start to round three by not only taking Holland down early, but also getting into mount. Holland eventually managed to reverse the position and then made the most of his striking, leading to 29-28s across all three scorecards.
Kevin Holland entered tonight with four losses in his last five fights, featuring outings at both 170 and 185 pounds. His sole win in that span came in a submission against Michał Oleksiejczuk at UFC 302.
Meanwhile, this was Nelson’s first fight since submitting Bryan Barberena at UFC 286. He entered tonight off back-to-back wins having also beaten Takashi Soto.
