At UFC Vegas 63, ‘Ugly Man’ Joseph Holmes came into his fight with ‘The Iron Turtle’ Jun Yong Park on the back of his first UFC win, a submission in a little over a minute earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Park has racked up an impressive 4-2 record since his debut three years ago, losing only to fringe top-15 contenders Gregory Rodrigues and Alexander ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez.
The pair came out trading jabs and leg kicks as they tried to figure out each other’s range. Park pressed forward as much as he could. Holmes began to open up with heavier punches which partially landed one minute into the fight. However, the caginess of the fight continued for the most part. Park landed one good right hand halfway through the round, but Holmes clinched up to defuse the pressure. Park was able to take down Holmes and get on his foe’s back soon afterwards. Even though he only had one hook in his control was consistent until he was able to get the second hook in with one minute left in the round. Soon after, Park snaked his arm under Holmes’ chin, looking for the rear-naked choke, but Holmes kept his chin tucked. Next, Holmes turned into Park and reversed the position, even taking Park’s back in the last fifteen seconds of the round. It seemed that Park had won the round, but Holmes was clearly not going to lay down and give in.
Park got back on the pressure to start the second round and he quickly ducked into a body-lock. Park used a trip attempt to slide to Holmes’ back and then sat back to the mat, dragging Holmes with him. Park then transitioned to full mount, having a dominant position early in the round. Holmes was able to partially re-guard, into quarter guard. Then, as he turned away Park took the back in a similar position to that he had for much of the first round. Park snaked his arm under the chin and almost made Holmes tap, but Joe survived and Park postured up to land hard ground and pound strikes. Park then worked to flatten his foe out so he could land strikes more easily. The strikes softened up Joe Holmes and ‘The Iron Turtle’ was able to once again snake his forearm under the chin. This time, Holmes had no choice but to tap as he was completely flattened out.
Official Result: Jun Yong Park def. Joseph Holmes by Submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 3:04
