It sounds like Kevin Holland is becoming a real life superhero.
At around 11:30 p.m. local time Monday in Houston, the UFC fighter was reportedly among three patrons that took down a man who pulled out a gun and opened fire in a restaurant that had approximately 50 people inside.
The suspect was taken down by Holland and two other another individuals that were out at the Ra Sushi establishment in the Highland Village area.
“I wouldn’t tell the next person to do it unless they’re seriously trained for that type of situation,” Holland said to ESPN. “Besides doing cage fighting, I train self-defense first and foremost. For me, that was the best way to defend myself at the moment. Plus, I like Batman.”
MMA Fighting reached out to the Houston Police Department and were told by a public information officer that the individuals involved in subduing the suspect will not be named in the police report because they are witnesses to the crime. However, they confirmed that multiple inquiries have been made regarding Holland due to him apparently posting about the incident in his Instagram stories.
Ariel Helwani was first to report Holland’s alleged involvement. MMA Fighting confirmed with a source close to the situation that Holland was one of the individuals who helped resolve the situation.
In Holland’s Instagram stories he is seen standing with a man identified by ABC13 Houston as Patrick Robinson, who was interviewed in the aftermath of the incident.
“We were eating, and the next thing you know, a gunshot just popped off. So everything paused and then everybody started running to get down under a table,” Robinson said.
“We got him down, apprehended him, got the gun away from him and the bag that he had,” he continued.
Holland shared two clips on Instagram, including one in which he appears to be talking about the shooting. He noted that he declined to speak to reporters.
“Yo, they was tripping tonight,” Holland said. “They got a shootout in this b****. They got into a shootout in this thing. They wanted me to do an interview but I’m like, nah, I’m good.”
Holland also wrote the following on Instagram and then alluded to the incident on Twitter:
About last night tho…..
I’m ok.
👍https://t.co/fV1B6t4nhI pic.twitter.com/mOrRRooct6— Kevin Holland (@Trailblaze2top) March 15, 2022
So how is the new Batman movie? Asking for a friend. pic.twitter.com/0PkebKnBPg
— Kevin Holland (@Trailblaze2top) March 15, 2022
According to ABC 13 Houston, the suspect faces charges of possessing a stolen gun and discharge of a firearm.
It is the second time in less than six months that Holland has subdued a suspect in a criminal act. This past October, Holland apprehended an alleged car thief in his coach’s neighborhood, which he discussed on The MMA Hour later that week.
“I pull up, I got my coffee mug, so I’m like this time I’m gonna be prepared,” Holland said. “I got my coffee cup. I’m chasing down after him and he reaches down to kind of go like this, I don’t know if he’s saying stop or what? I go like this with the coffee mug, and then I hit him with a little sweep. Get on top, knee on belly, hit him with the little Khabib scarf hold. He was like, ‘I can’t breathe,’ so that’s when I picked him up, put him on the curb. I didn’t want to be like the cop with the Can’t Breathe guy, so I was like f*** it let’s just put him over here.”
