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#5 Kevin Holland vs. Alessio Di Chirico
It’s been almost a year since Holland made a surprisingly entertaining UFC debut, pushing current title challenger Thiago Santos to the limit in the Brazilian’s last fight at 185lbs. Sure, Santos largely dominated Holland but it never truly felt like he was out of the fight, and since then he’s beaten a pair of pretty tough veterans in John Phillips and Gerald Meerschaert.
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Di Chirico meanwhile has been a rare Italian success in the UFC; he’s currently 3-2 in the Octagon and has won his last two fights, including an entertaining decision victory over highly regarded prospect Julian Marquez last summer. The classic jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none, Di Chirico is solid in all areas, most notably in his striking. He’s shown some issues with takedowns, but generally looks to be solid on the ground too.
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Holland seems to be a similarly well-rounded fighter with no real outstanding area, which is why this fight is very tricky to pick. I’m honestly not confident in going either way really as I feel like this could be a back-and-forth fight that’s likely to go the distance; both men have only been stopped once, via submission, and they seem tough enough to be able to survive the punishment that the other will dish out.
The x factor for me could be activity levels; Holland made his debut last August and now has 3 UFC fights under his belt, the last being his victory over Meerschaert in March. Di Chirico on the other hand hasn’t fought since last July, has pulled out of two fights since, and has also gone through an undisclosed surgery. If a fight’s that tight to pick then I’m happier to go with the fighter who’s been more active, and so I’m taking Holland via a tight decision here.
The Pick: Holland via split decision
