Kevin Holland wasn't trying to hurt Michal Oleksiejchuk.
On Saturday night, Holland picked up another big win of his UFC career, earning a technical submission stoppage after viciously breaking Oleksiejczuk's arm with an armbar in just 94 seconds. Speaking to reporters in the post-fight scrum, Holland accused referee Herb Dean of forcing his hand.
“It was all Herb Dean's fault,” Holland joked. “I asked him to stop a little earlier, and Herb Dean said, 'You've got to make it a little longer.' OK, fine, fine.”
“When I first put him on the armbar, I heard a pop. Then I didn't hear the pop again, so I knew I had to really break him down. So I did a little Chihuahua slide, got under him and then tried to get a good pull. But he was really tough. I took some good punches from him. He's a tough guy. I fought John Phillips to get my first UFC win and I felt like I could be like John Phillips, but better.
“I told my coaches that if he landed a good punch, the fight would go to the ground. He landed a good punch and the fight went to the ground. Well done.”
Oleksiechuk landed some good punches on Holland early in the round, taking him down, but when he chased Holland down to the mat, “The Trailblazer” was able to lock in an armbar on his back. However, Holland clarified that he wasn't hurt by the punch, he just went down, which was a good thing in the long run.
“I'm not hurt at all,” Holland said. “He just hit me with a good shot and I was moving at the same time. So I'm 6-foot-2, but my arms are like 7-foot long, so I get a little clumsy sometimes. … So I go down, and they come up and they replace me, so it's good for me.”
After the stoppage, Oleksiejczuk immediately protested to Herb Dean that he hadn't tapped, with “Husser” insisting his arm was fine. Holland, meanwhile, hopes that's true, as he bears no ill will towards Oleksiejczuk and doesn't want him to be seriously injured.
“The guy hasn't done anything wrong to me so I don't want anything bad to happen to him,” Holland said. “I love both my checks so I definitely want to win this fight but I don't want any harm to come to him so I hope he's OK and I hope he's not really broken any bones because he seemed like a cool guy.”
