Mark Holst Shifts from MMA Back to Muay Thai for Friday’s Lion Fight Main Event

Former UFC lightweight Mark Holst is no stranger to going beyond MMA to find fights and gain experience.

Throughout his fighting career, Holst has participated in various combat sports, and after a bit of inactivity in MMA, will be returning to Muay Thai for the Lion Fight promotion.

“I’ve always been a striker at heart,” Holst told MMAWeekly.com. “I love to mix it up, doing MMA match and challenging myself there. I love doing both, it just depends on the opportunity, and the opportunity came to me for a Muay Thai fight with Lion Fight. I didn’t want to pass by this opportunity.

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“I’m a fighter, I step in the cage or the ring, I don’t really care, I just want to put on a really good show, get some experience and have fun in there.”

While stand-up is a big part of his MMA training, Holst notes there are differences in how he prepares for a Muay Thai fight.

“With MMA, I’m all over the place and have to split up my time between wrestling, the striking and Jiu-Jitsu,” he said. “With Muay Thai, I like it because you can really focus in on the striking. My strength and conditioning is different to prepare for the work rate and stuff like that.

“Definitely the judging in Muay Thai is very different than in MMA. Game planning to move forward a lot is very big in MMA and controlling the ring is a big deciding factor for the judges if it does go to a decision.”

Holst (19-3) will face possibly the toughest bout of his Muay Thai career when he takes on former MMA fighter and Lion Fight veteran Ky Hollenbeck (33-3-1) in the main event superfight of the promotion’s Friday show at the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.

“He’s a very aggressive fighter, so I’m going to fight fire with fire and also be aggressive and see who backs down,” said Holst of Hollenbeck. “I’ll also work my techniques, and my flow and my tricks.

“To get the win I’ll have to push the pace early and come out strong. I’m sure he will, so it’s definitely going to be a bell-to-bell fight of non-stop action. I plan to put him away in the later rounds, put the work rate on and be able to capitalize and get the finish.”

Having diversified his fighting career for years, Holst sees no reason to stop now, and plans to take any opportunities that come his way in any combat sport he can.

“Where I’m at in my fight career, it doesn’t really matter,” he said. “I stay in shape and I train in everything every day at the academy that I teach at. At the drop of the hat, I’m willing to fight any rule. I need a month to get the game plan together and get my weapons sharp and I’m good to go.

“I’ve been doing this for 16 years, so I’m pretty proficient at switching back and forth. I think there are opportunities in MMA and opportunities in Muay Thai, so I don’t want to skip out on any. I want to be able to take it all.”

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