Ottawa/Gatineau bred MMA fighter Mark "Boots" Holst, who trains out of the mammoth sized Ottawa Academy of Martial Arts, makes his UFC debut tonight versus John Gunderson at The Ultimate Fighter Finale in Vegas. Hoslt, 24, has been one of the biggest faces in Ottawa MMA since 2006 when he first made his MMA debut versus Shane Savage at Apex: Canada vs America. Since his debut, Holst has captured multiple MMA titles, as well as internation recognition for his Muay Thai skills.
Tune into Bloodycanucksmma.com to catch the up to the second news of how Mark's UFC debut goes.
Live Play by play thanks to the folks at Sherdog.com and forwarded to you for those who didn't know their play by play existed.
Round 1
Holst misses a wild head kick early. Gunderson tries a double leg but is stuffed. Gunderson scoops Holst up and slams him down hard and lands in side control. Holst moves over and pulls to full guard. Holst tries to wrap up a triangle but misses. Holst expertly prevents the guard pass. Finally Gunderson scoots over and passes to side control. Holst quickly sucks Gunderson into full guard again. Not a whole lot of action with a minute left. Holst tries another triangle from butterfly guard but he's defended. 10-9 Gunderson.
Round 2
Gunderson quickly shoots in and lands the double leg. Holst pulls guard. Gunderson eventually moves to half guard but is quickly sucked back into full. Very little action 90 seconds in. The crowd is sparsely begging Rosenthal to stand them up midway through. Gunderson's sub defense is totally neutralizing Holst's sub attempts. Rosenthal stands them up with 95 seconds left. They exchange on their feet and Gunderson slips down and onto his back. Holst dives onto him and quickly tries an arm triangle but he misses it. they scramble to their feet. Gunderson takes him down again and the round ends with him in Holst's guard. 10-9 Gunderson.
Round 3
Gunderson throws a right/left combo but misses. He misses another and then ties Holst up against the cage. They separate. Gunderson lands a right/left but it's not hard. They clinch and Holst latches on a standing guillotine. He drops to guard but Gunderson slips out of the choke on the way down. They posture and Gunderson falls into a kimura. "Guns" defends it well. 80 seconds later Holst finally lets it go. He tries again. Gunderson slowly scoots his opponent into the cage. Very dull final round. With a minute left, Holst needs a sub to win. Holst rolls over and snags Gunderson's right arm. Holst can't stretch it out and can't pull off the armbar at the horn. 10-9 Gunderson.
