UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Holland creates record as earliest Vegas event ever

UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Holland will reportedly be the earliest UFC event that Las Vegas has ever witnessed.

Hours ahead of the event, ESPN's Ariel Helwani tweeted that this Saturday's UFC card has the "earliest local start time for a card in Vegas." Las Vegas, which follows US Pacific Time, will see the early prelims start as early as 8:30 AM PT and 11:30 AM ET.

Today’s UFC card starts at 8:30 am in Vegas. Pretty sure, off the top of my head, that’s the earliest local start time for a card in Vegas.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 10, 2021

The early prelims will be followed by prelims starting at 9 AM PT and 12 PM ET, before the main card will roll into action from 12 PT and 3 PM ET.

Thirty minutes til we start!📺 Main card at 3pmET on @ABCNetwork. #UFCVegas23 pic.twitter.com/H8RIB5kdSW

— UFC (@ufc) April 10, 2021

UFC events are usually held during the evening in the United States. The UFC Vegas 23 card has such an early start time because of the originally scheduled main event, which was supposed to feature two Europeans.

27-year-old Italian Marvin Vettori was set to face Darren Till in the headliner of the April 10 card. However, the latter had to pull out of the fight owing to a broken collar bone sustained during training.

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Which fighters are on the UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Holland card?

Darren Till was replaced by Kevin Holland in the middleweight main event, who took the fight on not only short notice, but on a 21-day turnaround time. Kevin Holland last fought on March 20, 2021, at the last UFC Fight Night, and dropped a decision to Derek Brunson.

Fans had a lot to say about Kevin Holland's choice to take on the fight, by talking a lot more than engaging with his opponent. At one point, he even addressed Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was seated cageside with Dana White, and asked for wrestling tips.

The tactic did not work out for him in the end as the judges unanimously scored in Derek Brunson's favor. This was Kevin Holland's first loss after having a great run in 2020 with five wins in five fights.

However, Holland has promised that it will be different this time. He has said that he would leave his "Big Mouth" persona at home and bring his "Trailblazer" avatar to the Octagon against Marvin Vettori.

Vettori, on the other hand, is coming into the fight with four wins in four fights. His last victory came against Jack Hermansson via decision in December, 2020.

In the co-main event of the fight, Sodiq Yusuff will go up against Arnold Allen, another British fighter on the card, in a featherweight battle.