"I kept trying like a chihuahua scoot" - Kevin Holland on what was going through his mind while trying to submit "tough" Michał Oleksiejczuk
Kevin Holland had a tough, albeit short, fight with Michał Oleksiejczuk, who he submitted after a scary moment. At a backstage interview following the fight, Holland spoke about the entire situation, including what his thoughts were during the submission process.
According to Holland, his opponent proved too tough, so despite his initial hesitation against applying more pressure with his armbar, he ultimately cranked as hard as he could, possibly breaking or at the very least dislocating Oleksiejczuk's arm. He said:
"When I first put him in the armbar, I heard the pop. After that, it wasn't popping again, and I was like, 'I'm gonna have to go full blown break.' So, I kept trying like a chihuahua scoot, you know what I mean? Get myself underneath there, and then he had a good pull after that. But the guy's tough as hell, he hit me with a good shot."
Check out Kevin Holland's thoughts on submitting Michał Oleksiejczuk (0:13):
The pair's UFC 302 bout was a thrilling one. Oleksiejczuk applied pressure from the onset, refusing to give Holland any breathing room, before landing a massive ovehand right that caught 'Trailbalzer' on one leg mid-kick, knocking him down. Naturally, the Polish middleweight pounced with a finisher's intent.
Unfortunately, as he threw ground-and-pound, he left an arm inside Holland's guard as he tried to posture up to then drive his hips into punches. This exposed him to a quick armbar from Holland, who still had his wits about him. The submission was locked in tight, and Oleksiejczuk had no hope of slipping out.
Nevertheless, the Pole tried to tough it out. His refusal to tap led to either a dislocation or break, with veteran referee Herb Dean stepping in to stop the fight once Oleksiejczuk's arm was injured.
Kevin Holland had never won via armbar before
After his UFC 302 triumph, Kevin Holland now has eight submission wins on his record. However, only one of those has been an armbar, which was his recent win over Michał Oleksiejczuk. Every other submission on his record has been a choke of some sort, with the brabo choke and rear-naked choke being his most prolific.
Holland has always been slick off his back, despite his past struggles with defending takedowns. He has a good instinct for scrambles, and is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, which more people are likely to pay attention to following his UFC 302 performance.