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Despite not being a pay-per-view, UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Holland delivered at a massive level.
The promotion went to Orlando, Florida, for this weekend's card that saw two welterweight dog fights, one heavyweight cracker, and otherwise exciting finishes in all the main card bouts.
Stephen Thompson faced Kevin Holland in the main event of the night in a 170 lbs clash. 'Wonderboy' came out victorious after four rounds of stand-up back-and-forth when Holland's corner asked for the fight to be stopped. 'Trailblazer' took significant damage in the contest, but being the warrior that he is, he still wished to continue despite having injured his primary striking arm.
Thankfully, his corner took the decision to throw in the towel and was commended for it on Twitter as well.
Fans were surprised at Holland's reluctance to take the fight to the ground despite getting repeatedly pummeled. Thompson later revealed that Holland suggested before the fight started that they keep the action away from the ground to make it entertaining for the fans.
As per the official UFC website, Thompson landed 163 significant strikes compared to Holland's 119 in the entire fight. There were two takedowns by Holland in the later rounds when he realized he couldn't keep up with Thompson's karate, but no submission attempts were made by either party.
In the co-main event of the night, UFC veteran Rafael dos Anjos submitted Bryan Barberena at the 3:20 mark of round 2. He went on to call out Conor McGregor and claimed he's been overdue for the fight for seven years.
Heavyweight contender Sergei Pavlovich scored a whirlwind KO over fan-favorite Aussie Tai Tuivasa. Fans could see in the 54 seconds that 'Bam Bam' was inside the octagon that he hadn't quite recovered from the Ciryl Gane beatdown.
The prelims of the card witnessed underdogs pick up wins in several fights that made way for a colossal parlay for bettors.
UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Holland full card results
Following are the results for every fight on the UFC Orlando card:
Main Card
Stephen Thompson def. Kevin Holland via TKO (corner stoppage) - Round 4, 5:00
Rafael dos Anjos def. Bryan Barberena via Submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 3:20
Matheus Nicolau def. Matt Schnell via KO (punch) - Round 2, 1:44
Sergei Pavlovich def. Tai Tuivasa via KO/TKO (punches) - Round 1, 0:54
Roman Dolidze def. Jack Hermansson via KO/TKO (punches) - Round 2, 4:06
Eryk Anders def. Kyle Daukaus via KO/TKO (punches), Round 2, 2:45
Phil Rowe def. Niko Price via KO/TKO (punches), Round 3, 3:26
Preliminary Card
Angela Hill def. Emily Ducote via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Clay Guida def. Scott Holtzman via Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
Michael Johnson def. Marc Diakiese via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Jonathan Pearce def. Darren Elkins via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Natan Levy def. Genaro Valdez via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Francis Marshall def. Marcelo Rojo via KO (punch) - Round 2, 1:14
Yazmin Jauregui def. Istela Nunes via KO/TKO (punches) - Round 2, 4:06
