For those who thought Batman was a fictitious character, you might be wrong. Sure it’s overexaggerated with the billionaire in the Halloween costume, the humongous car with a turbo gear, and a utility belt full of non-lethal gadgets, but a citizen with no superpowers fighting crime, one of those exists — it’s UFC fighter Kevin Holland.
For the second time in less than six months, Holland has apprehended a wrongdoer. He and his friend, Patrick Robinson, were at a Ra Sushi restaurant in Houston on Monday night. A man allegedly pulled out a gun and shot it into the air, causing the restaurant of about 40-50 people to panic. Robinson told ABC 13 that he and two other customers, one being a friend of his, rushed that person and were able to disarm him, and take his bag away.
Robinson did not say when interviewed who his friend was that charged the alleged shooter with him. Holland did however confirm on his Instagram story that he and Robinson went after the person and held him down until the police arrived and arrested him. One of the slides is captioned, “I’m drunk and I’m Kung Fu fighting.” Robinson is also a trained mixed martial artist.
Holland’s first foray into vigilantism, that we know of, happened in October of last year. He was driving near his coach’s house when he heard a person yell out that someone stole his car. It was early enough in the morning that Holland had his coffee mug with him, but he still thought that it would be fun to chase the perpetrator down. Holland told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour podcast that he called his coach, who ran outside to help.
The first attempt to apprehend the suspect was a failure, and unfortunately he ended up totaling the car while trying to get away. That’s when he got out of the car and Holland was able to run him down and applied Khabib Nurmagomedov’s scarf hold until the man said “I can’t breathe.” Like a decent person, he made the responsible decision — one that you would think would be standard for sworn law enforcement officers — to remove the hold and keep the man there until the police arrived.
Holland found a lot of humor in both events, which should serve as a reminder to all of you civilians that professional athletes are better at their craft than you are at anything. This professional fighter has had a solid professional MMA career, 22-7, and recently signed a new deal with the UFC but he’s far from one of the marquee fighters. Yet, he can laugh while mildly intoxicated about subduing a person who just shot a gun. For those who watch Holland’s next fight, if he loses just know that with little effort he could still squeeze your face until it changes colors.
So pay the increased ticket prices to see the new Batman movie if you want to. But do know that there is a real crime fighter who is not hiding behind a mask and a suit. He’s behind you dining at a sushi restaurant, laughing — maybe a lot after a few cocktails. But don’t get it twisted, if you decide to act stupid at the restaurant, you’ll find yourself in a triangle choke faster than Holland can order a spicy tuna handroll.
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