Tim Means and Kevin Holland face off on Saturday in a main card showdown in a welterweight battle at UFC on ESPN 37 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
Tim “The Dirty Bird” Means comes into this fight with a 32-12-1 record overall and he has won three fights in a row. Means last fight came against Nicolas Dalby in June of 2021 and it was a unanimous decision victory. Each of the last three wins has been by unanimous decision. Means is averaging 5.06 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.58 significant strikes per minute. Means is averaging 0.92 successful takedowns every 15 minutes and he is successful on 39 percent of his takedown attempts. He also stops 39 percent of his opponents takedown attempts. Means is not afraid of any challenge and will try anything to get the fight. Don’t be shocked if he tries to land some elbows in close to try and get the finish here.
On the other side of this matchup is Kevin Holland who sits with a 22-7 record overall, but the last few years have been quite the up and downs. In 2020, Holland won five fights in a row but followed that up with back-to-back losses. Two fights ago, Holland had a no-contest after an accidental clash of heads. In Holland’s last fight against Alex Oliveria in March of 2022 he looked dominant and it was early in the second round that he finished the fight by knockout. Holland is averaging 3.84 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 2.38 significant strikes per minute. Holland is averaging 0.87 successful takedowns every 15 minutes and he is successful on 45 percent of his takedown attempts. He only stops 49 percent of his takedown attempts. One big issue for Holland is he struggles when he is taken down.
Means will do whatever he needs to win, and I expect in this fight, that is going to do everything in his power to get Holland to the ground. Once the fight goes to the ground, Holland is going to have all kinds of issues, and he isn’t going to be able to use his power from the ground. Look for Means to control the fight, and he will pull off the big upset.