After earning his way back into the UFC for a third time, Kurt Holobaugh had been on a bit of a run. He had won two of his three fights, plus the two inside of the Ultimate Fighter house. Those wins came with a big step up in competition to formerly ranked lightweight. Alexander Hernandez.
After two strong rounds from Holobaugh. Hernandez controlled a lot of the third round with his wrestling. It headed to the scorecards with everyone assuming Holobaugh was getting another ‘W’ in the win column. Only, that didn’t happen.
“I actually, I thought for sure that I had the first round. I thought the second round was a little bit closer, but I knew I did a lot of damage in that round. I kind of figured that I had that round too,” Holobaugh admitted. “I definitely thought that it was very possible. I was two up and, I wish I would’ve went a little harder in that third round, maybe to get back to my feet or do some different things.”
While it was hard to see a fight he thought he could have won go by the wayside, he understands that this is the fight game. These things happen.
“It is what it is, man. It kind of sucks, but, you know, for now that’s the past and I’m looking forward to the next fight,” he said. “That’s why Dana White always says, don’t leave in the judge’s hands. You can’t never, never trust the judges, you know? And I’ve been on the other side of that before. I’ve won a split decision before.”
Following that loss, Holobaugh decided to get right back after it. This Saturday’s UFC Vegas 107 fight will come just 10 weeks from the fight with Hernandez. However, despite already having a quick turnaround, he’s preparing the the likelihood of a second.
“I was happy to take this fight and you know, my plans are still to take this fight against Jordan [Leavitt] and still turn right back around in July and pray that UFC puts me on that [New Orleans] card,” Holobaugh said. “I’m going to do what I got to do to win this fight first and foremost. But, you know, if everything works out in a perfect world, I already told the UFC, man, look, I’ll take this fight, but let’s get me on the New Orleans card. Let’s get me in my home state.”
You can see Holobaugh’s fight with Jordan Leavitt as part of the UFC Vegas 107 prelims. The fight card starts at 6:30pm EST this Saturday on ESPN+.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview on the Top Turtle MMA Podcast. The interview airs below at 1:51.
