Kevin Holland lost his last two fights, but he didn’t embarrass himself in either of those. Instead, he put on a good performance each time, which explains why the UFC 302 odds are favoring him to beat Polish striking maestro Michal Oleksiejczuk.
Kevin Holland vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk Odds
| Moneyline | Odds |
|---|---|
| Kevin Holland | -275 |
| Michal Oleksiejczuk | +235 |
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When, Where, and How to Watch?
- Place: Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey
- Date: Saturday, June 1, 2024
- Time: ~10:00 p.m. ET
- How to Watch: PPV
Kevin Holland’s Odds Favor Him to Win on June 1
If we had to describe Kevin Holland, we’d say that he’s a guy who loves nothing better than fighting. The evidence is that since joining the UFC in the summer of 2018, he’s fought 21 fights. In 2022, tied the UFC record for the most bouts fought in a single calendar year (four).
Last year, he fought three times, while the Kevin Holland vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk fight at UFC 302 is going to be his second fight of 2024. And this fight is one of the most important fights of his career!
The reason is that he’s coming off back-to-back losses. Losing three in a row would almost certainly see Holland drop out of the Top 15 in the UFC Welterweight rankings. However, judging by the UFC 302 odds, he’s not likely to lose on June 1.
One of the reasons is that he did okay in his last two outings, despite losing each time. First, he lost to Jack Della Maddalena by split decision, despite landing 22 significant strikes more than his opponent. Then, Michael Page beat him by unanimous decision in a fight in which Holland landed two takedowns and made one submission attempt.
Michal Oleksiejczuk Needs to Out-Strike Holland
Michal Oleksiejczuk’s Achille’s heel is defensive grappling. The evidence of this is that 5 of his 7 career losses happened by submission. The most recent of those happened against Micael Pereira in March.
He also lost to Caio Borralho by this method, as well as to Jimmy Crute and Ovince Saint Preux. He also lost to Polish fighter Jan Kwiaton in the early days of his career, but his game has evolved since.
Oleksiejczuk’s grappling isn’t elite, but he compensates for it with amazing striking. This way, he keeps the opponents at a distance. This has worked well for him many times in the past, although never against ranked fighters.
Kevin Holland vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk Prediction
This is a redemption fight for Kevin Holland. He needs to win to keep himself in the Top 15 so that he can continue fighting elite opponents. Given that he’s a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, we think he should be able to get a submission win on June 1.
Pick: Kevin Holland
