Uros Medic draws with Kevin Holland at UFC 334
A majority draw at Madison Square Garden: Medic lost a point for low blows, yet still fought to the first draw of his career.
When Uros Medic got off the mat with 14 seconds left in the first round, Kevin Holland looked at him like a man who couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The American had spent the previous minute working on his signature D’Arce choke, and Medic had survived anyway to make it to the second round. From there, the bout at UFC 334 in New York’s Madison Square Garden turned into one of the stranger results of the night: a majority draw.
The fight took place overnight between November 14 and 15 Serbian time, and the result arrived only this morning.
How did the judges arrive at a draw?
The official scores read: one judge had it 29-27, the other two 28-28. Event announcer Bruce Buffer first read the wrong scorecards in the octagon, 30-27, 29-28 and 28-28, which would have meant a majority win, before the result was corrected to a draw. According to MMA Junkie, which is carried by Yahoo Sports, the 29-27 card went to Medic because that judge gave him the first round despite the chokes. The same report says the point deduction is what pulled the other two cards down to 28-28.
What happened in the octagon?
Holland opened the fight better. He took Medic down, and the first takedown appeared to hurt Medic’s right knee. Reports differ on how many choke attempts followed: MMA Junkie records three D’Arce attempts, while B92 writes about two.
In the second round, Medic landed two low blows on Holland. Holland used all five permitted minutes to recover, and referee Mark Goddard took a point from Medic after the second strike. According to MMA Junkie, Holland had earlier pressed the referee repeatedly to penalize his opponent and talked with him at length.
In the final 15 seconds of the third round, Medic went on the attack, but Holland weathered the flurry and finished the fight on his feet.
What does the draw mean for the records?
For Medic, this was a fight in unfamiliar territory. He had never gone to a decision before, and had reached the third round only once. After the draw his record is 14-3-1, which is also the first draw of his career. Holland stands at 29-15-2.
According to B92, this is the first time since December 2020 that a UFC bout has ended in a draw.
What else was on the UFC 334 card?
The main event went to heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane, who defended his belt against Josh Hokit by unanimous decision, 48-47 on all three cards. Gane set a heavyweight record for significant strikes in a single fight with 237, while the two fighters combined for 383, also a record for the division. Kayla Harrison won on the same card, beating Amanda Nunes by rear-naked choke in the fourth round.
Medic and Holland were left without a winner, and Medic with a single deducted point that cost him the win.
