Kevin Holland’s brain wanted more at UFC 307 but his body didn’t allow for it.

In a middleweight bout on Saturday’s main card at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Roman Dolidze (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) defeated Holland (26-12 MMA, 13-9 UFC) by TKO due to injury between Round 1 and 2.

Holland found success on the feet early, but when taken down suffered a rib injury when grappling with Dolidze. Initially, a wounded Holland covered up as Dolidze rained down punches from mount. Holland covered up, bobbed, weaved and blocked the strikes. He even barked up at Dolidze from the bottom.

When the end-of-round horn sounded and it was time for Holland to get up off the canvas, he winced in significant pain and complained to his corner that his ribs were not right. Coach Bob Perez asked his fighter to be honest and seemed uneasy about Holland returning to test himself in Round 2. Eventually, Perez told referee Jason Herzog that Holland was done.

Holland seemed at peace with that decision as he immediately went and shook hands with Dolidze, who was awarded his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt by coach Eric Nicksick.

Roman Dolidze defeats Kevin Holland by TKO after Holland couldn’t continue due to a rib injury. #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/SapSMzowQH

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 6, 2024

Perez made a similar call in December 2022 when Holland severely broke his hand during a fight vs. Stephen Thompson. After the fight, Perez shed light on his role in protecting his fighters in an interview with MMA Junkie.

With the win, Dolidze has won back-to-back fights.

In defeat, Holland has lost three of his most recent four bouts.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 307 results include:

• Roman Dolidze def. Kevin Holland via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 5:00
• Kayla Harrison def. Ketlen Vieira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Joaquin Buckley def. Stephen Thompson via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 2:17
• Iasmin Lucindo def. Marina Rodriguez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Alexander Hernandez def. Austin Hubbard via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
• Cesar Almeida def. Ihor Potieria via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Ryan Spann def. Ovince Saint Preux via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:35
• Tecia Pennington def. Carla Esparza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Court McGee def. Tim Means via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:19

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

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Kayla Harrison is looking for gold after her latest win at UFC 307.

While she was the biggest favorite on the card, Harrison actually dealt with some adversity after Ketlen Vieira connected with a nasty elbow in the second round that caused significant swelling and bleeding on her forehead. That didn’t stop Harrison from getting the fight to the ground and punishing Vieira with devastating strikes to ensure she left Utal with the victory.

When it was over the judges scored the fight 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 with Harrison moving to 2-0 in the UFC.

“My hat goes off to Ketlen,” Harrison said after her win. “She’s a killer. She’s No. 2 for a reason.

“Ladies, enjoy it while you can. Because the queen is home and she’s coming for that f*cking gold.”

Harrison showed confidence in her hands before working from the clinch to try for the takedown. To her credit, Vieira never allowed Harrison to get into position to get the throw or the inside trip before the fighters separated back to the center of the cage.

Unfortunately that early success fending off Harrison’s grappling gave Vieira a false sense of security. Vieira got a little too aggressive and Harrison immediately grabbed onto her and then tossing the Brazilian to the canvas.

Harrison immediately began raining down punches as she punished Vieira with her ground and pound but time ran out before she could potentially set up a fight ending sequence.

The action slowed in the second with Harrison struggling to set up her takedowns and Vieira actually connected with a well-timed elbow on the inside. There was significant swelling and a trickle of blood coming from Harrison’s forehead after eating the shot from Vieira.

As the third round started there was also blood coming from Harrison’s nose as she was wearing a lot of damage on her face but she continued moving forward until she secured another takedown. From there, Harrison began hammering away with punches and elbows with Vieira stuck on her back.

Harrison really began dropping bombs from the top while maintaining total control over Vieira, who just couldn’t find any room to escape. Time ticked away with Harrison still delivering punishing blows and Vieira content to survive as the fight came to a close.

While it probably wasn’t the statement she wanted to make, Harrison still beat a veteran bantamweight contender who has only been finished once in the UFC. The victory should easily position Harrison to get the winner of Raquel Pennington and Julianna Peña to take another step towards her ultimate goal of becoming UFC champion.

All appeared to be going splendid for Stephen Thompson until he ended up face first on the canvas midway through Round 3 of his UFC 307 bout.

The party responsible for the violent jumping knockout was Joaquin Buckley (19-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC), who crumpled “Wonderboy” Thompson (17-7-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) with a jumping right hook that ended the fight at 2:17 of Round 3.

The welterweight bout closed out the UFC 307 preliminary card at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Buckley was the aggressor for much of the three-round bout, as Thompson played role of matador to his bull. Thompson counter strikes landed on Buckley on a few occasions, but that didn’t deter the pressure put forth.

Thompson fended off many of Buckley’s takedown attempts and made it seemingly impossible to be controlled for any significant period of time.

Right after a big head kick landed for Thompson in the opening two minutes of the third round, Buckley finally found a home for the big shot. He jumped in the air and landed a big right hook that sent Thompson on all fours.

Joaquin Buckley 😬 pic.twitter.com/GRe2cua1g8

— Jason Williams (@jasoneg33) October 6, 2024

After the win, which was Buckley’s fourth in a row, he called out former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Buckley defeated Andre Fialho, Alex Morono, and Nursulton Ruziboev in succession prior to Saturday’s fight.

Thompson, 41, has now lost back-to-back fights and four of his most recent five.

He knows who he wants next 👀@NewMansa94 wants Kamaru Usman for his next opponent! #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/yPXz7Chu4w

— UFC (@ufc) October 6, 2024

Up-to-the-minute UFC 307 results include:

• Joaquin Buckley def. Stephen Thompson via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 2:17
• Iasmin Lucindo def. Marina Rodriguez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Alexander Hernandez def. Austin Hubbard via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
• Cesar Almeida def. Ihor Potieria via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Ryan Spann def. Ovince Saint Preux via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:35
• Tecia Pennington def. Carla Esparza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Court McGee def. Tim Means via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:19

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Joaquin Buckley made the most out of his moment at UFC 307.

The always outspoken welterweight contender took care of business in the octagon after he delivered a vicious one-punch knockout on Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson midway through the third round. It was a stunning finish after Buckley had struggled on the feet against the crafty Thopmson but it only took one big shot to change everything.

The end came at 2:17 in the third round and following his latest win, Buckley then turned his attention to a former welterweight champion who still needs a fight right now.

“We just blocking out the noise, all the distractions and going to work,” Buckley said after his win. “We coming for that throne. I feel like I need to fight one more before I fight for the belt. I love Belal [Muhammad], I’m going to let you handle that with Shavkat [Rakhmonov]

“[Kamaru] Usman get your ass out here in the octagon. Everybody wants to see that fight. Let’s go. I’m going to put my 5-0 record against your [three straight losses] and let’s get it. Let’s see who’s going to win.”

After he was criticized for calling out Conor McGregor following his previous win, Buckley received a whole lot of praise asking for this matchup with Usman out of action since October 2023 and looking to get back into title contention.

As for the fight itself, it took less than 30 seconds for Buckley to swoop inside and grab a takedown to put Thompson on the canvas. The game plan didn’t surprise Thompson, who quickly scrambled to get back to his feet but he was still dealing with a lot of forward pressure from Buckley.

As Buckley continued to rush forward, Thompson acted like a sniper from the outside with a right hand that started connecting in almost every exchange. Thompson’s counter striking was giving Buckley all kinds of problems whenever he moved forward without actually setting anything up.

Buckley’s best success came from making the fight ugly when he got in Thompson’s face, threw punches in bunches and then looked for a takedown. Even when he got the fight down to the canvas, Buckley just couldn’t hold Thompson down as the two-time welterweight title challenger consistently broke free to return to his feet.

With five minutes remaining, Buckley started launching bombs just trying to overwhelm Thompson but the veteran striker avoided taking too much damage. But Buckley recognized where he was finding his opening so he just threw technical striking out the door and went headhunting.

That’s when Buckley rushed ahead and uncorked the hellacious right hand that blasted Thompson and sent him crumbling to the canvas. The referee immediately swooped in to stop the fight with Thompson wobbled badly as he attempted to get back to his feet.

It was an ultra-impressive showing for Buckley, who won his fifth straight fight since moving to welterweight. Perhaps Usman ends up as his next test with Buckley looking to put himself into title contention sooner rather than later.

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