KevinHolland put his mixed martial arts training to use in a potentially dire situation on Monday night.
According to a report from Houston’s NBC-2 TV station, a man pulled out a gun and shot it in the air inside the popular Houston restaurant Ra Sushi at approximately 11:30 a.m. local time. Houston Police Department Sgt. Ricardo Salas said there were about 40-50 people inside the establishment when the shot was fired in the bar area.
Shortly thereafter, Holland and a friend with MMA training, Patrick Robinson, were able to take down the gunman. The two men quickly took action when, as Robinson recalls, they heard a loud “boom.” According to police, a third customer helped in holding down the shooter.
“We just quickly hopped on it, got to the shooter, got him down,” Robinson told NBC-2 TV. “He had a backpack on him. We got the backpack away from him because we didn’t know what was in the backpack. And pretty much everything went well from there.”
While Holland said he declined interviews with local media, the UFC talent posted a video of himself with Robinson outside the restaurant — obtained by MMAjunkie.com — on his Instagram stories.
“I laugh a lot even when things aren’t funny,” Holland wrote. “I smile when I should frown. Super blessed and thankful to see today. Kiss ya kids, hug ya family and treat random people with care. You never know what a mfer may be going through.”
No injuries were reported from the incident. Police say that the gunman was a 24-year-old man who was wanted for failing to appear in court on a criminal mischief charge and had narcotics on him at the time of the shooting. The suspect faces charges of possessing a stolen gun and discharging a firearm.
Holland, 29, last appeared at UFC 272, where he defeated AlexOliveira via second-round TKO in his welterweight debut on March 5. The Fort Worth, Texas, native is 9-4 with one no contest during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion. It isn’t the first time Holland has helped law enforcement officials: In October, he captured and held down a suspected car thief until police could arrive on the scene.
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