Kevin Holland suffered a fourth-round TKO loss to Stephen Thompson in the main event at UFC Orlando on Saturday night.
After an even start, Thompson gradually started laying it down on Holland to the point where ‘Trailblazer’ failed to answer the bell for the final round.
While Holland earned credit for his chin, his corner was applauded on MMA Twitter for saving the 30-year-old from injury by throwing in the towel at the right time. The decision to throw in the towel was taken after ‘Trailblazer’ claimed to have hurt his hand at the end of round four.
A Twitter user noted that Holland could have suffered severe injuries on his hand if the fight continued for another round. @TheMaximumPower wrote:
“If it was wise move for Kevin Holland’s corner to stop the fight. Kevin could’ve suffered severe and career ending injuries by just taking repeated shots on his broken hand/arm for 5 more minutes.”
UFC middleweight Brad Tavares wrote:
“Shout out to hollands corner. I think they made the right call. No fighter wants that to happen, but sometimes you need your coaches to save you from yourself. He was taking major damage in there. What a great show by both men! Congrats @WonderboyMMA on a great win! #UFCOrlando”
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Kevin Holland’s hand was reportedly compromised in the first round
Kevin Holland was transported to the hospital after breaking his hand in the UFC Orlando headliner clash against Stephen Thompson. Holland’s manager Oren Hodak claims that the injury occurred in the very first round after ‘Trailblazer’ stunned Thompson with a flush right hand.
Holland fought compromised for the remainder of the four-round affair until he had to hold up his right hand while walking back to his corner. Hodak wrote on Twitter:
“Kevin Holland broke his right hand landing a cross in the first round. Hand is very swollen. Being transported to the hospital. Congrats to Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson and team.”
This was Holland’s second consecutive loss after dropping a lopsided makeshift catchweight clash against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279 in September. Meanwhile, ‘Wonderboy’ bounced back from back-to-back decision losses against seasoned grapplers Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad.