Sports Interaction
Promotions
Sports Interaction
Promotions

Stephen Thompson vs. Kevin Holland: UFC Fight Night Odds, Prediction

  • Jeremy Perry's Author profile. Jeremy Perry

Add Sports Interacton as Your Preferred News Source

The main event of the evening was supposed to be a bout between Jack Hermansson and Derek Brunson. Instead, it will be a pair of welterweights leading the way as Stephen Thompson takes on Kevin Holland.

Holland has been uneven in his UFC career but appears to be on the up right now. Can he stay on track and win as the oddsmakers expect here?

UFC Fight Night - Stephen Thompson v Kevin Holland

  • Kevin Holland -135
  • Stephen Thompson +105

Stephen Thompson UFC Fight Night

Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is not only entering this bout as an underdog, he’s coming in on a big slump. The question is whether it’s just a downturn or if he’s simply in the twilight of his career. It’s a fair inquiry to make as Thompson is now 39-years-old (will be 40 in February).

Thompson has dropped two in a row and four of his last six bouts. He has just two wins in the last four years of action, so that makes it tough to back him in this spot.

Thompson is still ranked No. 6 in the welterweight division, which probably speaks more about the division than it does about Thompson. His strength is landing precise strikes, keeping his distance and pouncing on counters. Considering Holland has a reach advantage here and is the more creative striker, it seems like Thompson won’t have a great edge.

The main question here is Holland’s motivation. If he’s sleepy and isn’t really engaged, Thompson will have an opening. Otherwise, this feels like Holland’s fight to lose.

Kevin Holland UFC Fight Night

Holland has headlined two UFC cards before and he’s lost both times. Are we looking at the same type of result on Saturday?

The challenge with Holland is you never know what you’ll get. He has incredible talent and can go toe-to-toe with a lot of UFC fighters. And then there are times where it looks like he’s disinterested and doesn’t really care about who wins. The good news is that since we saw those back-to-back, headlining losses from him, he’s rebounded pretty well. He had a no contest against Kyle Daukaus, then won a pair of fights, but lost his latest outing to Khamzat Chimaev. Of course, Chimaev is the No. 3 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC and is the welterweight champ, so that’s nothing to be ashamed of. And remember, he accepted that bout on short notice at catchweight, so it shouldn’t register as a blemish on his resume.

The key here for Holland is that he’s younger, has a six-inch reach advantage and has more power in his hands. That should be the difference here.

Thompson vs. Holland UFC Fight Night Prediction

Holland -165