Welterweight Kevin Holland again came to the rescue, this time less than 24 hours before his UFC Austin fight with Tim Means.
Holland’s manager, Oren Hodak, said the 29-year-old fighter on Friday stopped a would-be perfume thief in Austin by chasing him down on foot. Hodak told MMA Junkie Holland gave chase after seeing another man shout about a stolen item while in pursuit of the alleged thief. The manager was unaware of whether the alleged thief was apprehended. Holland then returned several bottles of perfume.
Holland, who competes in the ESPN-televised co-main event at Moody Center, said it was a good workout before the fight.
“Oren booked the wrong reservations, so we’re just sitting out here with nothing to do,” Holland said in a video shot by Hodak forwarded to MMA Fighting. “We had got some water from the liquor and wine spot with coach, next thing you know, we see some guy running down the street – next thing you know, we see some guy running down the street. So we opened up our cardio, chased the crackhead.”
It’s not the first time Holland has played the hero. This past month, the Texas resident rescued a driver from an overturned 18-wheel truck on a highway. In March, he disarmed a gunman at a restaurant. And this past October, he apprehended an alleged car thief.
In a previous interview, Holland said he idolized superheroes as a child. But he’s been taken aback by how often he seems to get in the middle of things.
“You’ve got to be careful what you ask for,” he joked. “You ask for certain things and they start to happen and you wonder why these things are happening — you’ve got to be careful what you ask for.”