Preview: UFC Fight Night 154 ‘Moicano vs. The Korean Zombie’

Middleweights

Kevin Holland (14-4) vs. Alessio Di Chirico (12-2)

ODDS: Holland (-230), Di Chirico (+190)

Bring on the weirdness, as here comes Holland. Since making his way onto the UFC scene, Holland has perpetually lived inside of the flow state, doing whatever move comes to mind in the moment and then going from there. Sometimes that results in Holland attempting a flying omoplata against Thiago Santos to no particular end, but against subsequent opposition, Holland has had enough physical advantages to get by with his constant activity on the feet and on the mat. There is definitely going to be a moment where Holland tries the wrong thing against the wrong opponent, but until then, it is best to just embrace his improvisational way of fighting and see exactly how far this style can take him. Ideally, Holland would be facing someone else who can let the madness flow, but instead, Di Chirico should provide a solid next test to see where the “Trailblazer” stands.

Di Chirico comes from the improving Italian scene and has had a solid run, even if he is fairly nondescript as a fighter. On the feet, Di Chirico is a bit stiff and reliant on big single strikes, but past that, he is solid everywhere; and while facing a slate of flawed and unstructured opponents -- which describes a decent swath of the middleweight division -- “Manzo” has shown the ability to take advantage of his opponents’ weaknesses. Against Oluwale Bamgbose, Di Chirico managed to wait out the former Ring of Combat champion’s unnecessary movement until he hit a perfect knee in the clinch, and against unstructured brawler Julian Marquez, Di Chirico was content to just prove himself as the stronger wrestler. Again, Di Chirico is not the most exciting talent, but he is in the right division to turn quiet competence into a decent amount of success.

Picking any Holland fight feels like folly, but he should have enough physical advantages, particularly in terms of his speed and length, to get the nod here. If Holland just decides to throw whatever comes to mind on the feet, he should be too quick for Di Chirico to counter effectively and should be able to coast to victory. Of course, who knows what Holland is actually going to try, so there is always a chance that he gets overzealous and allows Di Chirico to control the fight, particularly if he gives the Italian ample opportunities to try to outwrestle him. The pick is Holland via decision, though it is best not to think about this one too critically.

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