After a week's hiatus, UFC will return with a fight card this weekend with a middleweight contest as the headliner on Saturday's event. UFC on ABC: Vettori vs. Holland will take place at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The last UFC card saw Stipe Miocic drop his heavyweight belt to Francis Ngannou in a second-round knockout in the main event of the pay-per-view. The latter became the first-ever African-born heavyweight champion in the history of the organization at UFC 260.
This weekend's main event will see Marvin Vettori go up against Kevin Holland, who is making a record-tying turnaround of only 21 days to take the fight. Kevin Holland headlined the previous UFC Fight Night card as well, which took place on March 20th.
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The co-feature of the event will see Sodiq Yusuf and Arnold Allen lock horns in a featherweight contest.
Also dubbed UFC Vegas 23, this event will be the promotion's first event featuring Venum as their new outfitting and apparel partner. The UFC partnered with the French MMA gear manufacturer after their six-year deal with Reebok came to an end in March.
UFC Vegas 23 will also be the second UFC Fight Night to be aired on ABC. UFC on ABC 1 took place on January 16th 20 at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. ahead of Conor McGregor's return against Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. The first Fight Night on ABC was headlined by a bout between Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar.
UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Holland
Kevin Holland put on a somewhat controversial performance in his last outing against Derek Brunson. "Big Mouth' spent more talking more inside the Octagon than fighting and paid the price in the form of a decision loss. However, this time around, Holland has promised to do things differently.
After a broken collarbone forced Marvin Vettori's original opponent Darren Till out of the fight, Kevin Holland stepped in to fight the Italian on short notice. The only other fighter to have fought twice in 21 days is UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo.
Kevin Holland has gone on record to state that he will be leaving his 'Big Mouth' persona at home and only bring his 'Trailblazer' avatar to the Octagon. Currently ranked at No. 10 in the middleweight division, a win over No. 6-placed Marvin Vettori will move Holland up the rankings closer to a future title shot.
Other fights on the main card of UFC Vegas 23 include Sam Alvey vs. Julian Marquez, Nina Nunes (Ansaroff) vs. Mackenzie Dern, and Mike Perry vs. Daniel Rodriguez.