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Israel Adesanya has seemed untouchable at the top of the UFC middleweight division. He has dispatched his recent title challengers with ease.
There is, however, one up-and-coming UFC middleweight who has a real shot at dethroning ‘The Last Stylebender’. Kevin Holland had an unforgettable 2020 and looks to have the potential to cause the champion some real problems in the cage.
Let’s look at 5 reasons Kevin Holland can dethrone Israel Adesanya.
#5 His ground game
On his feet, current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has looked unbeatable. However, once he’s been taken down, Izzy has looked more vulnerable.
At UFC 259, light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz took Adesanya down with relative ease in rounds four and five to secure the victory. Once Jan had him down, Adesanya showed little to no ability to get back up.
Kevin Holland showed against BJJ whizz Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza that he has a decent ground game. Not only did he survive against Jacare, he finished the Brazilian with punches while they were in a scramble by the cage.
Holland can use his grappling skills to neutralize Adesanya's stand-up and maybe finish him.
#4 Height and reach
Current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya stands at 6 foot 4 inches tall and has an impressive reach of 80 inches. He has used his reach to keep opponents on the outside and his supreme striking to hurt and finish many UFC fighters.
Kevin Holland is 6 foot 3 inches tall with an 81-inch reach. So he actually has a slightly longer reach than the champion. This means he doesn’t have the same reach disadvantage that past middleweight title challengers have had.
#3 Kevin Holland's UFC winning streak
2020 was a great year for Kevin Holland. In the space of just 210 days, he won five UFC fights.
He knocked out Anthony Hernandez in the first round at UFC on ESPN in April. ‘Big Mouth’ followed that up with a third-round knockout over Joaquin Buckley in August. At UFC Fight Night in September, he beat Darren Stewart by decision. He then slammed Charlie Ontiveros to win by TKO at the end of October. Holland then got his most impressive victory yet when he knocked out Jacare Souza at UFC 256.
Kevin Holland is on a roll and is ready to challenge for the belt. Adesanya, meanwhile, had his undefeated MMA win streak come to an end after he was defeated by UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Blachowicz.
#2 Knockout power
Kevin Holland has shown he has genuine knockout power in the UFC octagon. He has four UFC wins via knockout. To beat the reigning champion Israel Adesanya, you need to be able to finish the fight.
Holland has shown he not only has power on his feet but he has the ability to hurt fighters in grappling scramble situations. He stopped Jacare during a scramble and he also slammed Charlie Ontiveros for a TKO victory.
Israel Adesanya is a master striker, but as the famous saying goes “It only takes one punch to end a fight.” Kevin Holland definitely has the ability to do just that.
#1 Confidence
Fighters thrive off confidence. Riding a five-fight win streak and now in the main event of the next UFC card, no one is more confident than Kevin Holland.
A lot of fighters who have faced Isreal Adesanya have talked a good game (see Paulo Costa), but in the octagon they have looked nervous and tentative. ‘Big Mouth’ Kevin Holland is not going to let Izzy intimidate him. Yet another reason why he has the tools to beat the current UFC middleweight champion.
