Kevin Holland goes home with a new trophy after snapping Michal Oleksiejczuk’s arm with a devastating armbar submission to end their fight in gruesome fashion at UFC 302.
The finish actually came after a big knockdown from Oleksiejczuk after he cracked Holland with a nasty overhand left that dropped the veteran welterweight and middleweight to the canvas. Unfortunately, Oleksiejczuk didn’t protect his arm when he jumped down into Holland’s guard and the black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under UFC veteran Travis Lutter immediately saw the opening for the submission.
Holland quickly latched onto the armbar and straightened up before Oleksiejczuk ended up falling to his back, desperately trying to slip free. There was no doubt that Holland had the armbar locked up but Oleksiejczuk refused to tap out as he continued wiggling in hopes that he could escape.
That gave Holland no choice but to lean back and fully extend the submission, which led to Oleksiejczuk’s arm popping and giving referee Herb Dean no choice but to stop the fight.
The end came at 1:34 in the first round with Holland getting a technical submission win due to the broken arm stopping the fight.
“I was trying not to go too hard [on the armbar] but then I realized he wasn’t going to tap,” Holland said after his latest win. “I kind of feel like I’m the best gatekeeper you’ve ever seen.”
After a pair of frustrating losses at welterweight, Holland returned to his old stomping grounds at middleweight on Saturday and put on a vintage performance.
He was steadfast afterward that he’ll go wherever the UFC wants him as Holland remains one of the UFC’s most loyal soldiers ready to take on any and all challenges across multiple weight classes.