UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya praises Charlie Ontiveros after he took short-notice fight against Kevin Holland
UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya has taken to his official social media account to praise Charlie Ontiveros for taking a short-notice fight against Kevin Holland at UFC Vegas 12.
Israel Adesanya was in attendance for the UFC Vegas 12 fight card and witnessed Middleweight rival Kevin Holland compete against UFC newcomer Charlie Ontiveros.
Israel Adesanya lauded Ontiveros not only for accepting the fight on just three days notice, but also for moving up a weight class to compete in the fight.
A sequence of unforeseen incidents led to Kevin Holland vs. Charlie Ontiveros
The bout between UFC Middleweight contender Kevin Holland and promotional newcomer Charlie Ontiveros featured two fighters who’d accepted the offer to compete at UFC Vegas 12 on short notice.
Holland vs. Ontiveros served as the second bout on the main card portion of UFC Vegas 12 (UFC Fight Night: Hall vs. Silva) on October 31st, 2020.
Nevertheless, this Middleweight fight was initially supposed to feature Krzysztof Jotko and Makhmud Muradov.
Jotko and Muradov were scheduled to fight at UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie on October 18th, 2020. However, the bout was subsequently scrapped from that card and moved to UFC Vegas 12.
Ahead of his clash against Muradov at UFC Vegas 12, Jotko withdrew owing to a toe injury and was replaced by Kevin Holland.
Additionally, Muradov tested positive for COVID-19 during fight week and was forced to withdraw from the fight, leaving Holland without an opponent.
It was then that the UFC accorded Charlie Ontiveros the opportunity to face Holland.
Ontiveros generally competes at Welterweight, but agreed to move up to the Middleweight division in order to face Holland on three days notice.
The fight was deemed as a high-risk one for Ontiveros, particularly considering the fact that he’d accepted it on three days notice and was moving up a weight class to compete against a proven UFC competitor like Kevin Holland.
Holland ended up dominating Ontiveros, securing a takedown and landing ground strikes, before Ontiveros managed to briefly get back to his feet.
The end came at 2:39 of round one when Holland slammed Ontiveros to the mat, causing him to verbally submit after he seemingly suffered a neck injury.
The UFC medical personnel present at the arena immediately tended to Ontiveros, who was down on the mat for quite some time, and carried him out on a stretcher.
UFC President Dana White later revealed that Ontiveros was receiving medical treatment backstage and thankfully still had feeling in all his extremities.
Israel Adesanya praises Charlie Ontiveros
In light of Charlie Ontiveros’ decision to take a high-risk short-notice fight at Middleweight, Israel Adesanya took to Twitter.
The king of the UFC's 185-pound weight class, Israel Adesanya, stated:
“Takes fight on 3 days notice. Moves up to middleweight. I’m glad he’s well and ok. Charlie Ontiveros lads.”
What are your views on Charlie Ontiveros’ decision and Israel Adesanya’s statements regarding Ontiveros? Sound off in the comments.