Roman Dolidze earned a first round TKO victory over Kevin Holland tonight at UFC 307 due to a freak injury after ‘Trailblazer’ damaged a rib while scrambling after a submission attempt.
Round One:
Outside leg kick for Holland. Now a quick left hand. Inside leg kicks from Holland. He lands it again. Jab and another kick from Holland and then Dolidze lands his first punch.
Solid calf kick for Holland. Holland fires off a series of punches as Dolidze was trying to close the distance.
Back to the leg kick for Holland. Dolidze grabs a leg and lands his first takedown. Holland locks up his guard straight away via the body triangle.
Two minutes of the round remaining. Body work from Dolidze. A few heel strikes from Holland. Not too much activity from Dolidze and the crowd starts to get impatient. Light body-head combos from Dolidze.
Holland tries for an armbar but it doesn’t pay off. Suddenly Holland seems hurt for reasons that are unclear and that enables Dolidze to get to mount and starts landing hard punches. Holland trying to cover up and move his head side to side to avoid the blows.
Holland manages to survive until the end of the round and points to his rib in pain afterwards. It was the scramble during his armbar attempt that seemed to cause the damage, and after talking with his corner his coach decides to call off the fight the next round begins. So Dolidze wins by TKO due to the injury at 5.00mins of the opening round.
