UFC Orlando Preview
The UFC is invading the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida on Saturday December 3rd for UFC on ESPN 42. The main event will be in the welterweight division between former title challenger #6 Stephen Thompson and fan-favorite Kevin Holland.
39-year-old Thompson is trying to rebound from two straight losses to Gilbert Burns and most recently to Belal Muhammad last December. The former title challenger is 2-4 in his last six fights but is still one incredible performance away from reminding everyone why he challenged for the welterweight title twice.
The man they call “Wonderboy comes from a Karate background, and he is excited to face Holland who comes from a Kung Fu background, because it will be an exciting fight for the fans. “I’m smiling, I can’t stop smiling, it’s going to be fun. The reason why I’m smiling is because this is what the fans want to see,” Thompson said.
“I hate putting on, I don’t like boring fights. When I fight the Belal’s and the Gilbert Burns, especially the way they did it, it would’ve been better if they were trying for submissions and stuff. It just wasn’t an exciting fight. It reminded me of the Demian Maia-Tyron Woodley fight where they just shoot and fans are booing. Fans want to see what makes ‘Wonderboy,’ ‘Wonderboy’ and that is my striking and I’m excited for sure. I know Kevin Holland is excited as well.”
Thompson continued, “I feel like there is no pressure. This is my job here at the Karate school,” Thompson explained. “I fight for the fun of it, I don’t have to fight to make a living. So, I do it for the fun and to be entertaining. It is a way I can test myself to see how far I can go, mentally, physically, and emotionally. It forces me to be better every day.”
Thompson has key victories in his career over Geoff Neal, Vicente Luque, Jorge Masvidal, Rory MacDonald, Johny Hendricks, Jake Ellenberger, Patrick Cote and Robert Whittaker. Even though he is on a losing streak, he is always a fighter that fans are excited to see and a win over Holland will remind the pundits why he was once considered one of the most dangerous strikers in the UFC.
Holland is coming off a first-round submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev at the total mess that was UFC 279 in September. Holland was originally scheduled to face Daniel Rodriguez but agreed to a late switch to fight Chimaev at a catchweight of 180 pounds. There was “bad blood” between Holland and Chimaev during the over-exaggerated back-stage brawl at the UFC 279 press conference. This animosity made the fight fun for the fans, but Holland made a key mistake going in for a glove touch at the start of the fight. Chimaev declined and scored an immediate takedown and finished a quick submission.
Holland went into a brief retirement after UFC 279, but the 30-year-old thinks it was all part of a strategy. “Sometimes you just got to play with the water a little bit,” Holland said of his short retirement. “And I think right then and there at the time, I was playing with the water a little bit. Seeing what would go if I did decide to possibly take that route or to see if some things that were said were going to really happen. And I played the route, I tested the water and the water was great on both sides. It was great outside of the cage and it’s great to get back in the cage. So just a test of the water.”
Since his retirement and quick return, Holland has not left another quick retirement off the table. “It’s still on the table. If I wake up Sunday morning after beating ‘Wonderboy’ and you guys have Chimaev fighting for a 185-pound world title, and he’s never won a fight at ’85 in the top 15, I’m retired. I understand business is business, but favoritism is favoritism. The kid missed weight. I had to step up and fight him after he missed weight to make the fight happen. I shouldn’t have had to do that,” he said.
Holland continued, “I did what I had to do. I did what I was supposed to do as a company man, so I’m sitting here telling you guys now: Certain things have to go certain ways. If they don’t go certain ways and we don’t get what we were promised, the things we talked about aren’t honored, you might as well give me my resignation papers and go home and smoke weed and play video games for the rest of my life.”
The Texas native explains further that he wants every fighter in the UFC to be treated equally. “There’s just certain things that just don’t make sense,” Holland said. “At the end of the day, if we’re here and we’re here to be fair and we’re here to be even, everyone should have a fair chance. We’re fighters. We fight for what we want. We should be able to fight off what we want. We should be able to get the same things if we’re fighting the same way. That’s just how I feel. But I’m not here to b*tch, I’m not here to complain. I’m just here to do what I feel is right and if I feel like something isn’t right, I will move the f*ck around, because that’s what I do.”
Despite his feelings about the UFC, Holland has a goal against Thompson on Saturday. “I’ve had plenty of visions on how I see the fight playing out, but ultimately the vision that just keeps staying there is, for some reason, it’s a third-round stoppage,” Holland said. “We shall see. ‘Wonderboy’ is a fantastic fighter. We all know he does wonderful things. He’s very defensive. He does a good job of not getting hit. But I think around Round 3 I’ll start him. I think once I start to hit him, it’ll be over.”
Holland has key victories in his career over Tim Means, Alex Oliveira, Jacare Souza and Joaquin Buckley. A victory over Thompson would represent the biggest win of his career and it is hard to imagine another retirement shortly after due to the magnitude of the victory. A win on Saturday would create tremendous opportunities against the top 10 for Holland and would put him in the position to headline another card at the beginning of 2023.
The co-main event will also be in the welterweight division between Bryan Barbarena and former lightweight champion #7 Rafael Dos Anjos.
Barbarena has won three straight fights and is coming off the biggest of his career at UFC 276, where he defeated former champion Robbie Lawler by second round TKO. The 33-year-old is known for putting it all on the line and leaving everything in the octagon. He is riding two straight fight of the night honors and fans should expect nothing less from Barbarena on Saturday.
While he is coming off a win over Lawler, a win over Dos Anjos would be an even bigger deal for Barbarena who is right on the cusp of the top 15 rankings at welterweight. He is thankful the UFC has given him great matchups. “I appreciate it, I really do,” Barberena said. “I’m thankful for them giving me these matchups and making them happen. The last two have been full-circle moments. This is a full-circle moment.”
He continued, “My big brother Benson Henderson fought him eight years ago. I was in his corner for that fight, and he came up short. So it’s kind of like the little brother coming back to seek revenge. … Really, I just feel the best version of myself right now, and I’m going on a legend’s tour. It goes with the guys I’m fighting, but I’m the legend and this is my tour.”
Dos Anjos is in desperate need of a win as he is 2-3 in his last five fights and most recently was defeated by fifth round KO in a back-and-forth war in July with Rafael Fiziev. The 38-year-old has been a contender in two weight classes since 2015 but he cannot afford another bad loss. He will have to dig deep to find a way to win against a hungry contender with plenty to prove.
Even though he is coming off a loss, Dos Anjos is excited and believes Barbarena is a great matchup for him. “I’m happy with that matchup,” dos Anjos said. “He’s coming in on a (three-fight) winning streak. He’s a guy that fights forward. He’s the type of fight that I like. Being three rounds, I think of my last eight fights, seven of them were five rounds, if I’m not wrong. It was good, a little break, too, fighting three rounds. Preparation is a little easier, too. I’m happy with that matchup.”
The future Hall of Famer has key victories in his career over Renato Moicano, Paul Felder, Kevin Lee, Robbie Lawler, Neil Magny, Tarec Saffiedine, Donald Cerrone (twice), Anthony Pettis, Nate Diaz and Benson Henderson.
The rest of the main card:
Flyweight - #6 Matheus Nicolau vs. #7 Matt Schnell
Heavyweight - #4 Tai Tuivasa vs. #5 Sergei Pavlovich
Middleweight - #8 Jack Hermansson vs. Roman Dolidze
Middleweight - Eryk Anders vs. Kyle Daukaus
ESPN + Prelims:
Welterweight - Niko Price vs. Philip Rowe
Women's Strawweight - #12 Angela Hill vs. #13 Emily Ducote
Lightweight - Clay Guida vs. Scott Holtzman
Lightweight - Michael Johnson vs. Marc Diakiese
Featherweight - Darren Elkins vs. Jonathan Pearce
Women's Flyweight - #13 Tracy Cortez vs. #15 Amanda Ribas
Lightweight - Natan Levy vs. Genaro Valdez
Featherweight Marcelo Rojo vs. Francis Marshall
Women's Strawweight - Yazmin Jauregui vs. Istela Nunes
