After pondering a potential move to welterweight, no. 10 ranked middleweight Kevin Holland will be competing in his second main event in three weeks, taking on no. 6 ranked welterweight Marvin Vettori in the main event of UFC on ABC 2.
Holland replaces the injured Darren Till. The no. 5 ranked middleweight was forced to pull out Tuesday after he suffered a broken collarbone.
Just eight minutes after Vettori sent a disgruntled tweet in response to Till pulling out of the fight, Holland responded on Twitter with his trademark phrase, “call big mouth”.
I already accepted the fight an hour ago….. #callbigmouth https://t.co/xY7viueXZ2 pic.twitter.com/6ETxLKOF2f
— Kevin Holland (@Trailblaze2top) March 30, 2021
Vettori responded encouragingly, not long after responding by saying “let’s go”.
Let’s go
— Marvin Vettori (@MarvinVettori) March 30, 2021
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This fight will be Holland’s seventh fight in just 11 months. “Trailblazer” was on a five fight win streak before losing a five round decision to no. 4 ranked middleweight Derek Brunson in the main event of UFC Vegas 22.
Holland now has an opportunity to climb even higher in the middleweight division rankings.
Vettori on the other hand is on a four fight win streak, with his last loss coming as a split decision to none other than UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
“The Italian Dream” is coming off a career-defining short notice victory over no. 7 ranked middleweight Jack Hermansson at UFC Vegas 16.
Vegas’ current odds on the main event for UFC on ABC 2 currently has Vettori as a -275 favorite, while Holland is positioned as a +220 underdog (via Bovada).
While Vettori had an opportunity to climb the middleweight rankings with his scrapped bout against Darren Till, one could imagine the Italian middleweight is certainly happy to have an opportunity to fight against one of the most interesting characters the UFC has seen in recent memory in Kevin Holland.
UFC on ABC 2 takes place on April 10 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Kevin Holland steps in to face Marvin Vettori in UFC on ABC 2 main event