UFC 307 results: Roman Dolidze wins after Kevin Holland suffers ...
Roman Dolidze didn’t get the satisfying win he wanted after Kevin Holland suffered a rib injury in the opening round that ultimately ended their fight at UFC 307.
Following an early takedown, Holland attempted to escape by throwing up a submission but as he rolled through, he screamed out in pain but the fight continued. It was only after he returned to his corner that Holland revealed he suffered a rib injury that was causing him an extreme amount of pain.
Before he could potentially injury himself further, Holland’s coaches made the call to stop the fight with Dolidze getting the win with the official end time coming at 5:00 at the end of round one. Afterward, Dolidze turned his attention to two of the top middleweights about to meet at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
“I think I’m on top of the division,” Dolidze said. “Next fight, I want to see [Robert] Whittaker or Khamzat [Chimaev], they both are incredible fighters, winner or loser. Because I’d like both of them.”
Prior to the stoppage, Holland showed good range and speed striking from the outside but Dolidze was just biding his time until going for the takedown. On the ground, Dolidze was content maintaining control and peppering away with punches to the head and body.
In an escape attempt, Holland looked for an armbar from the bottom but as he rolled for the submission, he grunted in pain with Dolidze eventually landing in the mount. Dolidze began raining down punishment with Holland blocking many of the biggest shots until the round came to a close.
As he got back to his feet, Holland pointed to his ribs and told his coaches that he suffered an injury that was obviously causing him a lot of pain.
Replays showed that Holland twisted his body during the submission attempt and that’s where the injury occurred. Holland was clearly dealing with a lot of pain in his corner and his coaches made the call to stop the fight rather than risk further harm.
With the win, Dolidze has now scored back-to-back victories while Holland falls to 1-3 in his past four outings while competing at both middleweight and welterweight.
