UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson returned to winning ways with an emphatic victory over Kevin Holland in his latest UFC outing. Thompson actually praised a “smart call” from Holland’s corner in the fight, although it may have been a backhanded compliment from “Wonderboy”, who was talking about their choice to throw in the towel. He discussed the fight, and his take on Holland’s corner, on The MMA Hour.
“I think it was great. It’s a breath of fresh air, to be honest with you, because it’s the coaches taking care of the fighter, and that’s what it’s all about.
Thompson On The “Smart Call” From Kevin Holland’s Corner
MMA has this thing where you’ve got to be tough, you’ve got to be strong — obviously you’ve got to be strong to be in the game, but there’s a fine line between being strong and being smart. So the coaches were definitely smart with it.
He didn’t have anything else. Kevin was done. His hand was shot. He was taking a lot of shots, especially in that fourth round. I hit him with two or three spinning hook kicks to the head. I can’t believe he was still standing. I dropped him a few times. It was definitely a smart call on the coaches’ part, for sure.”
Throwing in the towel is a term borrowed from boxing, where a fighter’s coaches can effectively forfeit a fight by throwing a towel into the ring. The practise is rare in MMA, but more commonly practised in the sweet science.
Thompson also praised Kevin Holland’s overall performance and toughness, particularly after breaking his hand early in the fight.
“A little bit, when I was out there, which is one of the reasons why I kept throwing the back leg roundhouse kick to his body, knowing that he’s going to block it with his right arm. So he stopped throwing it. He started throwing more elbows instead of his right hand, and every now and then he would shake it out a little bit. So I kind of put two and two together, I figured his hand was pretty hurt, which he broke on my skull the first round when he staggered me. So I started aiming that back leg towards the right arm a lot more, which I think had the effect of him not wanting to come out to the fifth round.”
Do you think Kevin Holland’s corner made the right choice? Let us know in the comments.
