UFC fighter helps thwart shooting at Texas restaurant, takes down suspect using choke hold — putting the suspect to sleep: 'I like Batman'

UFC fighter Kevin Holland squared off with an armed man at a Houston, Texas, restaurant on Monday night, Yahoo! Sports reported.

What are the details?

According to reports, the incident unfolded around 11:30 p.m. local time at Ra Sushi in Highland Village when a suspect identified as 24-year-old Jesus Samaniego pulled out a gun and fired at least one shot into the air near the bar area of the restaurant.

Management quickly phoned authorities to report a shooting in progress, but Holland — who was at the venue at the time — quickly jumped into action and took down the shooter in true UFC fashion.

The suspect, police said, was already detained by the time they'd arrived on the scene. He was taken into custody without incident and faces charges of deadly conduct and unlawfully carrying a weapon.

According to the report, Holland, 29, declined to be interviewed by the media, but did provide a statement to police.

What else?

On Tuesday, ESPN reported that Holland claimed to have used a rear-naked choke to subdue the suspect, but didn't even realize that shots had been fired at first.

"I was facing one way and then we he heard a big, loud bang," Holland said. "I thought it was a champagne bottle popping, because the people behind us were having a birthday party. I go to look around and I see people running like they had the look of death on [their] face, like super worried."

He said that he and a friend initially took cover, but saw the gunman — who was reportedly waving a pistol at several patrons — out of the corner of his eye, prompting him to storm the armed suspect.

ESPN reported that Holland "took the man into his lap, wrapped his legs around his legs, and put him in a rear-naked choke submission hold."

"As soon as he was [asleep], I let go of the choke, slid out on top, got full mount, stretched the arms out so he couldn't reach for anything," Holland added.

"I wouldn't tell the next person to do it unless they're seriously trained for that type of situation," Holland told the outlet. "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. ... It seemed like the safer route to go to [the gun] instead of going away from it."

Holland is no stranger to helping out where it's needed — in October, he chased down and detained a carjacking suspect until police arrived on the scene to take the suspect into custody.