Vettori defeats Holland in a unanimous decision
Marvin Vettori showed off his superior grappling and continued his quest for a title shot, recording a UFC middleweight-record 11 takedowns in a lopsided unanimous-decision victory over Kevin Holland in the UFC on ABC 2 main event Saturday at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
Vettori, a Huntington Beach resident via Italy, received scores of 50-44 on all three judges’ scorecards, winning all five rounds, including one so dominantly it was scored 10-8, for his fifth consecutive victory in the Octagon and a legitimate claim to being a title contender.
“I’m not too happy with what I did because I wanted to finish this guy and I wasn’t able to,” said Vettori (17-4-1), who trains at Kings MMA in Huntington Beach. “But it was a dominant win and I keep improving . ... I’m not the happiest right now, but I keep winning and I keep progressing.”
Vettori’s last loss came three years ago via split decision to Israel Adesanya, who has gone on to become the champion of the 185-pound division. Vettori believes he deserves another shot at Adesanya, this time with the belt on the line.
“I want Adesanya next. I will improve by the next fight, that’s for sure. I want to fight him in October,” said Vettori, who was supposed to fight Darren Till on Saturday until Till broke his collarbone. “I think I deserve it. I have the biggest, longest win streak right now. Other people were supposed to show up and they didn’t.”
Holland (21-7), a Riverside native and graduate of Los Osos High in Rancho Cucamonga, took the fight on short notice in place of Till, less than a month after losing a fiveround unanimous decision to Derek Brunson, which snapped his own five-fight winning streak.
It was the seventh fight in 11 months for Holland, who now trains in Fort Worth, Texas, and his first two-fight skid since 2015.