Takes war from Kevin Holland Rodriguez defeated Kevin Holland via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) at UFC 318 on Saturday in New Orleans. Impact Rodriguez has been short on notable wins throughout his UFC run, but this was possibly his most impressive to date. It didn't come easy and in the end, he was fortunate to survive. D-Rod did enough to win a close Round 1 before opening up in Round 2. He became the first opponent to knock Holland down, doing it twice in the second frame. Then he gassed out and everything changed. Rodriguez was on his last legs after getting dropped early in Round 3, only to somehow survive and actually end the fight in mount. It was a wild set of circumstances and the late Rodriguez surge may have been the only reason the bout ended in a victory instead of a draw. Rodriguez will be 39 years old on New Year's Eve, is a one-dimensional boxer and lost three in a row as recently as November 2022 to June 2024, so expecting some sort of surge at this point is very unlikely, but this was an awesome win for D-Rod.
JULY 20 • ROTOWIRE