This past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Austin, we saw an entertaining scrap in the welterweight division. Kevin Holland (23-7, 1 NC) was making his second appearance at 170 when he took on “The Dirty Bird” Tim Means (32-13-1, 1 NC).
Both men had a lot on the line on Saturday night. For Holland, he’s been on the comeback trail to reestablish himself as a top contender. After surging up the latter at 185 pounds, Holland hit a wall due to his wrestling defense.
Now, he’s at 170 and he’s looking to show he’s one of the UFC’s best. For Tim Means, he was trying to win his fourth in a row which could’ve meant a ranking or a ranked opponent in his next fight.
From the opening bell, there was one fighter that seemed to have the advantage. That fighter was Kevin Holland. Holland was just a step ahead of Tim Means throughout the first round and did a great job of landing long and straight punches.
Tim Means never was able to build a ton of momentum. In the second round, Holland hurt Means bad with a body shot. He swarmed him and the fight went to the ground. Once there, Holland locked up a d’arce choke and was able to get the submission win at UFC Austin.
What’s next after UFC Austin?
I don’t know if Kevin Holland will end up in the 170 rankings after his UFC Austin win, but he’s going to be close. Holland is going to get a ranked opponent in his next fight I can assure you of that. In his post-fight interview, Holland had an opponent in mind.
Holland called for a fight with top UFC contender and undefeated fighter Sean Brady (15-0). We haven’t seen Brady since he decisioned Michael Chiesa back in November to stay undefeated.
Brady expressed some interest in fighting Holland due to the lack of fights for him lately. He can’t seem to get a fight lined up and he’s wanting to get back in the cage with a willing opponent. There’s no one in the UFC more willing than Kevin Holland.
Sometimes matchmaking is easy and not complicated. This is one of those times as Holland and Brady is the fight to make.