UFC middleweight Kevin Holland has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled rematch with Kyle Daukaus.
Their initial encounter took place on Oct. 2. The bout lasted just one round after an accidental clash of heads caused an abrupt halt to the contest. Following the clash of heads, the bout ended in controversy and a No Contest result. After the incident took place, Kevin Holland immediately was knocked down from the headbutt. However, the two were slated to meet again shortly after the first result. MMA Junkie was first to report on Holland’s undisclosed injury on Wednesday.
In his fight with Daukuas, the middleweights clashed heads, and Holland dropped to the canvas. The referee let the fight go on, and the 28-year-old Daukaus scored a rear-naked choke submission after the accidental mishap in the first round.
As of this writing, the expectation is that Daukaus will remain on the Nov. 13 fight night card. Prior to the unsatisfying conclusion with Holland, Daukaus lost a unanimous decision to fellow UFC middleweight Phil Hawes.
On the other hand, Holland has suffered two consecutive losses. During both fights, Holland struggled to keep up with the wrestling chops of Derek Brunson and former title challenger Marvin Vettori. In spite of those two setbacks, Holland was on fire in 2020 with an impressive 5-fight winning streak. Along the way, he scored a brilliant highlight-reel knockout against Joaquin Buckley in round three.
Following the UFC Vegas 38 post-fight press conference at the beginning of Oct., Holland shared his take on the situation and how he was feeling through the unfortunate clash of heads.
“I don’t remember anything,” Kevin Holland told reporters at the UFC Vegas 38 post-fight press conference. “I felt myself hit the ground and all the sudden I felt him on my back. So whatever happened in between that, that’s just goodwill and God-given. I want to run it back, I want to run it back right now. I want to run it back with anyone that’s gotten the better of me, so yeah, I want to run it back.” h/t BJ Penn.com
With the recent changes to the card, here is an updated lineup for the UFC event scheduled for Nov. 13:
- Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodriguez
- Jessica Eye vs. Andrea Lee
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Ben Rothwell
- Philipe Lins vs. Ovince Saint Preux
- Tucker Lutz vs. Lando Vannata
- Leah Letson vs. Felicia Spencer
- Collin Anglin vs. Sean Woodson
- Jailton Almeida vs. Danilo Marques
- Julio Arce vs. Song Yadong
- Joel Alvarez vs. Thiago Moises
- Kyle Daukaus vs. TBA
- Miguel Baeza vs. Khaos Williams
- Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Da Un Jung
