Kevin Holland stepped up at UFC Vegas 12 as a replacement fighter against Makhmud Muradov. Only to end up facing a replacement fighter himself. Holland, who replaced Krzysztof Jotko, was ultimately paired up with Charlie Ontiveros, joining the UFC on just a few day’s notice.
After that game of musical opponents, the fight was going to be all about who could adapt best, because game plans were pretty much out the window.
A massive favorite, Holland took a big swing then missed to open the fight. And almost wound up in a seriously bad spot when Ontiveros answered with a spinning back fist. Holland then executed a takedown, with the two ending up in a North/South position. Holland then moved to side control, and worked the body a little. Ontiveros would make it back up, but Holland forced the fight back down. Holland got on top, and looked to be working for a choke, when the ref stopped the bout.
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Ontiveros had verbally submitted. To what wasn’t exactly clear. He was in obvious pain afterward, and was removed from the cage by stretcher, although he was conscious.
After the fight, Kevin Holland started jawing at middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, who was sitting cageside. In his post-fight interview, Holland revealed that Ontiveros had hurt his neck, leading to the submission. Per the UFC broadcast team, Dana White later confirmed that Ontiveros had feeling in all his extremities. He was expected to be transported to hospital for further examination.
Official Result: Kevin Holland def. Charlie Ontiveros by verbal submission, Round 1, 2:39
