Kyle Daukaus disagrees with no contest ruling vs. Kevin Holland, interested in early 2022 rematch

LAS VEGAS – Kyle Daukaus is not happy with the way things went down on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 193.

The UFC middleweight submitted his opponent Kevin Holland with a rear-naked choke, but his fight was ruled a no contest instead of a win. Daukaus (10-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) and Holland (21-7 MMA, 8-4 UFC) accidentally clashed heads prior to the finishing sequence. Holland was hurt and fell face-first to the canvas, which allowed Daukaus to get his back and eventually sink in the choke.

Daukaus feels he should’ve been awarded the win and is not happy with the no contest ruling.

“It just annoys me,” Daukaus told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 193 post-fight press conference. “He did recover from the head-butt in a way, and Dan (the referee) didn’t say anything while we were in there. He was still fighting, so it was fine, to me it was fine.

“If that would’ve happened to me, it would have been fine. If he would’ve stood back up and if he would’ve gotten back to his feet and knock me senseless, they would’ve made it a big deal about him on ESPN saying, ‘Oh, he suffered a head-butt and then got up and knocked me out.’ But because he recovers off of a head-butt gives up his back and I choke him, I get a no contest.”

Daukaus would like a rematch with Holland to get a more conclusive result. For now, he’ll shift focus to his brother to help prepare for his main event bout against Derrick Lewis on Dec. 18, but thinks early 2022 could be a good date to run things back with Holland.

“It will bother me and it’s still going to bother me,” Daukaus said. “It’s going to haunt me until I get the win, so it’s only more motivation throughout training.”