Kevin Holland Happy to Use Left Hand to Finish Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 287

After breaking his right hand in a loss to Stephen Thompson this past December, Kevin Holland wasn’t exactly sure how he would feel against Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 287.

Things turned out pretty well for Holland, as he knocked out Ponzinibbio 3:16 into the third round of their featured welterweight encounter on Saturday night in Miami.

“It felt pretty good, especially going in there against a knockout artist like Ponzinibbio. No excuses, but I really didn’t know how my right hand was gonna be playing into this fight,” Holland said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “[After I] had broken it the last time, as soon as I got cleared I was in here about a week or two later. I didn’t think it was gonna play out right, but thank God I’ve got a left hand as well.”

Indeed, it was a left hook from Holland that proved to be the decisive blow, as he evened his mark at 170 pounds to 2-2 in the UFC. “The Trailblazer” admitted to have some doubts about his ability to perform as the fight drew near, however.

“I never had any thoughts about not having a fight until I got into that back room,” Holland said. “We got in the back room, I got messages from my mom and my manager questioning whether I should do it or not. I put that little glove on for the first time ever when I got in the back. We threw a punch and my hand instantly felt funny and I was like, ‘Well f—k let’s count on the left tonight. I threw the right out there a couple of times to make him believe it was going to happen. I dropped him with the right when he had me with the kick, but sure enough it was the left hand that popped on him. It was like gravy on mashed potatoes and it felt good.”

Holland also addressed his offer to Ponzinibbio to move their fight to 185 pounds just prior to UFC 287. According to Holland, it was all in the name of entertainment. Ultimately, the best move was to stay at welterweight.

“I don’t think people get me and I don’t expect them to get me. At the end of the day, I’m an entertainer first and foremost,” Holland said. “So I’m here to entertain you guys. I understand that’s what I do best. If I say something about changing weight classes, I’m down to change weight classes at the last second. I know we can both make 170. Honestly, I think I made 170 easier on the fight card than everybody made 170 … I asked him if he wanted to switch weight classes, he didn’t want to switch weight classes. I feel better when I’m primed out. I was primed out at 170.”