Tomorrow night on the main card of UFC Austin, we are going to see an entertaining bout in the welterweight division. Fan favorite Kevin Holland (22-7, 1 NC) will make his second appearance in the welterweight division when he takes on “The Dirty Bird” Tim Means (32-12-1).
This is a huge fight for Tim Means who’s actually been on quite the run. The Dirty Bird is 4-1 in his last five UFC bouts with the lone loss coming against Daniel Rodriguez in early 2020. If he can get a win over Holland tomorrow night, that will be huge for his career moving forward.
Kevin Holland was one of the breakout UFC stars in 2020. The Trailblazer won five fights in impressive fashion and he capped off his year by knocking out MMA legend Jacare Souza.
This incredible year led to Holland getting a main event in the UFC’s middleweight division against Derek Brunson. However, starting with the Brunson fight, Holland went 0-2, 1 NC in three middleweight bouts.
He was always weighing in under the 185 limit and announced he was moving to welterweight. He debuted at UFC 272 in March and was able to knock out “Cowboy” Alex Oliveira in the second round. Now, he’s taking a step up against Means and he’s looking for another big win.
UFC Austin Prediction
This fight is going to be a very fun one to watch and it’s going to be a really good test for Kevin Holland. I’m expecting Tim Means to fight with his standard style tomorrow night which means a lot of forward pressure and volume.
Both men are long for the division, but Kevin Holland enjoys a hefty reach advantage. He needs to take advantage of that at UFC Austin. In his first welterweight bout, Holland was a bit wild at times.
I want to see clean striking down the middle catching Means coming in. That is what people should look out for from Holland. For Means, he needs to get on the inside, work the body, and try to make the fight dirty.
I think that Kevin Holland is going to find his groove in this fight. Maybe you’ll see some Tim Means success early, but I really like Kevin Holland over the course of 15 minutes at UFC Austin. Expecting a big combination and a finish early in the third round for The Trailblazer.
Prediction: Kevin Holland by TKO – Round 3