Marvin Vettori absolutely smothered Kevin Holland on Saturday. The question now is how much the win should move him forward in the middleweight contenders’ queue.
In the main event of UFC on ABC 2, “The Italian Dream” entered the cage as a greater than 3-to-1 favorite over the “Trailblazer” and delivered accordingly, taking next to no damage after the first round and racking up a mind-boggling 20 minutes of top control in a 25-minute bout. It may not have made him many new fans, and the fight is not exactly bursting with rewatch value, but Vettori made the best of a no-win situation, neutralizing a lower-ranked yet extremely dangerous short-notice opponent who had everything to gain.