LOS ANGELES – While the result was expected, Thiago “Marreta” Santos (18-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) and Kevin Holland (13-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) proved to be one heck of a wild ride.

The bout opened up the main card of today’s UFC 227 event at Staples Center in Los Angeles. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and UFC Fight Pass.

Both men were light on their feet at the start, with Holland dancing in and out of range and slapping the legs with kicks. Santos ultimately elected to shoot inside and found himself in a brief spot of trouble when Holland turned for an earnest armbar attempt. After working free, Santos unleashed some vicious ground-and-pound attacks from the top.

Holland tried to tie thing sup underneath, but Santos backed away and kicked at the legs. However, it wasn’t completely one-sided, as Holland showed some creativity from his back, leaping up and kicking his opponent’s legs. Santos eventually pushed back into his opponent’s guard and tagged him with more massive punches and elbows. Holland eventually was able to control the wrists, earning a brief pause, before Santos backed away and allowed his opponent to rise, as well.

Holland threw a few haymakers on the feet that missed, but he survived until the bell.

Santos came out firing kicks in the second, and one landed to the groin, earning a brief timeout. With his left eye closing, Holland was aggressive on the restart, firing out high kicks and wild punches. Holland’s mouthpiece popped out twice, much to the crowd’s dismay, but Santos remained focus and was able to bring the fight briefly to the floor. Holland battled back to his feet, and the two exchanged strikes from range.

Halfway though the frame, Santos took the fight to the floor, but Holland refused to stay there, scrambling up to his feet and landing a few big shots in a transition. Santos again pushed into the clinch, and Holland used a beautiful kimura sweep to take the fight to the floor and hold top position.

Holland showed creativity on the floor, as well, nearly moving into a guillotine attempt, but Santos alertly bucked free. Still, Holland did finish the round in the dominant spot.

Holland was flat-footed to open the third, while Santos was still lively, flashing out high kicks and a bit of capoeira before driving inside and taking the action to the floor. Holland tried to turn to his knees and rise, but Santos slowly worked himself into an arm-triangle choke. He didn’t want to give up mount to finish it, allowing Holland to survive and eventually roll away, where the referee brought them to the feet.

With Santos still throwing with full power, Holland elected to shoot inside, but he wasn’t able to finish the transition on top. Instead, it was Santos who worked from the superior position, setting up the arm-triangle choke once again. Holland showed brilliant defense and spun free from the hold, though he couldn’t get himself back to the feet. Santos finished the round on top and was awarded the fight, 29-27, 29-27 and 29-26.

“The fight did not go exactly how I planned, but I was able to adapt along the way,” Santos said. “I feel like this was a great fight for me because I was able to show so many aspects of my fighting style: my jiu-jitsu, wrestling, really just bringing all aspects of MMA together to control the fight. I had him hurt badly, but he was also very creative and I respect his toughness.

“There is a very big card coming up in New York with many of the top guys from my division on it and I would like to join them. I will be staying in fighting shape, keeping my weight low and I want on the card. I want to fight a top middleweight at UFC 230.”

Up-to-the-minute UFC 227 results include:

• Thiago “Marreta” Santos def. Kevin Holland via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-26)
• Pedro Munhoz def. Brett Johns via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-27)
• Ricky Simon def. Montel Jackson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Ricardo Ramos def. Kyung Ho Kang via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Sheymon Moraes def. Matt Sayles via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Alex Perez def. Jose Torres via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:36
• Weili Zhang def. Danielle Taylor via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Marlon Vera def. Wuliji Buren via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:53

For complete coverage of UFC 227, check out the UFC Events section of the site.