Jean Silva may have started slow but his aggression finally came through as he dropped Jose Miguel Delgado and finished with a one-arm rear-naked choke in the Noche UFC main event.
At the start of the fight, Silva just put his fists out and circled the octagon but once he got moving, he was hurting Delgado with a variety of strikes. Finally in the third round, Silva put Delgado against the cage and unloaded a huge shot that dropped his opponent to the canvas.
A moment later, Silva was on his back and snatching the submission with Delgado tapping out at 2:57 in the third round to end the fight. Silva has now won two fights in a row and it’s no secret what he wants next.
“This is for you guys,” Silva said to the Arizona crowd. “This is the show I bring in for you guys. No animosity from me. This is for you and you deserve this.
“This message is not for the division. It’s for the next champion. Whoever holds that belt, the next champion is right here. There’s a new champion in tow.”
As stoic as always, Silva just took the center of the octagon with Delgado chipping away at him with kicks, although that strategy finally backfired on the Fighting Nerds team member. Delgado exploded forward with a nasty right hand that put Silva on the canvas and it forced the Brazilian to get more active.
Just before the opening round ended, Delgado snapped off another stinging right hand that twisted Silva’s head around as the crowd reacted to the shot landed.
Silva finally got more aggressive as round two got underway as he looked to close the distance and back Delgado up against the cage. That led to a well-timed takedown from Silva as the Brazilian started hammering away with ground and pound before the bantamweights worked back up to the feet.
As time ticked away, Silva unloaded with a wild kick and even a spinning back elbow as he sought to put Delgado down and out. Silva kept up with the pressure, marching forward and blitzing Delgado with a variety of punches and kicks.
One of those shots slipped through and Delgado dropped to the canvas and Silva wasted no time leaping on his back to secure a rear-naked choke submission — with one arm. A moment later, Delgado was forced to tap out as Silva jumped up in celebration after another impressive win.
With reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski already booked against Movsar Evloev in October, it’s unlikely Silva is getting a title shot soon, especially if that means waiting for several months. That said, Silva is still one of the most entertaining fighters on the entire UFC roster and there’s a long list of top conenders he could face next after another ultra-impressive win.
