A featherweight bout between No. 2 ranked contender Diego Lopes and No. 10 ranked Jean Silva headlined Saturdauy’s Noche UFC fight card in San Antonio, Texas.
Lopes was looking to rebound after a loss to champion Alexander Volkanovski in his last outing. Silva had the opportunity to jump into title contention and extend his 13-fight winning streak.
Lopes landed first with an outside leg kick. Silva returned fire with a front kick. They stood in the center of the cage. Both invested in leg kicks early. Lopes closed the distance after Silva attempted a spinning back kick. Lopes took the fight to he ground and mounted Silva.
Silva held on and bucked. Lope opened up with punches and elbows. Silva was unable to get off the bottom. He rolled before rolling back. Lopes continued to deliver punches. Silva reversed Lopes and got to his feet with 90 seconds in the opening round. Silva connected with a front kick to the face. Lopes absorbed it. Silva went to the body with a right hand. Lopes responded with a jab. MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Lopes.
They took the center of the cage to start the second round and exchanged leg kicks. Silva inched forward and landed a right hand. Silva connected with a left hand. Lopes returned fire with a right hand. The two began talking to each other. They exchanged. Silva landed a combination. Silva connected with a back elbow. Lopes began pressuring Silva. Silva landed a right hand that staggered Lopes. He landed a hard combination. Lopes took back shots. A counter combination landed for Lopes. Silva overcommitted with a right hand and Lopes tied him up. Lopes landed Silva to the canvas but Silva quickly got to his feet. Lopes again took him down. Silva got to his feet and began throwing bombs. Lopes landed a spinning elbow that put Silva down. Lopes hammered away with punches until the referee stopped it.
The official time of the stoppage was 4:48 of the second round.
