Jean Silva seeks Noche UFC redemption Saturday.
One year ago, Silva’s night ended in disappointment as he was knocked out by Diego Lopes to close out the Mexican Independence Day event, a result that Lopes parlayed into a title fight with Alexander Volkanovski. Tonight, Silva takes on Jose Miguel Delgado in a headlining bout with considerably lower stakes.
Don’t blame Delgado. The featherweight prospect jumped on the opportunity to replace an injured Yair Rodriguez and can now shake up the contender picture if he beats Silva. Delgado might not be a household name yet, but in the Year of the Upset, this roll of the dice could pay off in a big way for him.
What this win means for Silva is less clear, but don’t expect the Brazilian fan favorite to be too bothered by the opponent switch. Whether it’s against Delgado or Rodriguez or anyone else, Silva can always be relied upon to provide at least one memorable moment in his never-ending quest for glory—and bonus money.
Where: Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz.
When: Saturday, Sept. 12. The seven-fight preliminary card begins at 2 p.m. ET on Paramount+, followed by a six-fight main card at 5 p.m. ET also on Paramount+.
(Numbers in parentheses indicate standing in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings and MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound Rankings)
Jean Silva (6) vs. Jose Miguel Delgado
Jose Miguel Delgado has all the tools to be a player at 145 pounds, but Jean Silva is too tall a task for him at this stage of his career. No pun intended.
Standing nearly six feet, Delgado presents a unique puzzle to anyone in the featherweight division, especially the relatively diminutive Silva. However, with a little over a dozen pro bouts to his name, he’s a work in progress and like many young fighters, Delgado is still working on getting the most out of his tools and on the finer points of defense. Simply put, he hasn’t faced a hitter like Silva yet.
I fully expect Delgado to give Silva all kinds of headaches early on, but with five rounds to work, Silva will figure him out and once he starts landing, Delgado’s reactions will tell us everything we need to know about how his development is going. An upset wouldn’t surprise me, but I like Silva to score a knockout to wash the bitter taste of last year’s Noche UFC from his mouth.
Brandon Moreno (9) vs. Joseph Morales
A guy who couldn’t make it out of the round of 16 on The Ultimate Fighter vs. the champion of Season 33? Mismatch!
While Moreno fell flat in his season of TUF (getting eliminated by some chump named Alexandre Pantoja), Morales valiantly clawed his way past Alibi Idris, Imanol Rodriguez, and Eduardo Chapolin to earn a well-deserved second UFC contract. Now, “Bopo” is the third up-and-coming flyweight in a row looking to bounce Moreno further down the rankings. What chance does Moreno have in the face of such adversity?
Jokes aside, a pretty good one. With respect to Morales, he’s not Lone’er Kavanagh nor Tatsuro Taira. He’s an excellent grappler and his high-level experience gives him a shot, but the standup is where he’ll fall short against the two-time flyweight champion. Both Kavanagh and Taira proved to be major threats on the feet and that’s an avenue Morales is yet to distinguish himself in.
Moreno gets back in the win column in an entertaining three-round striking affair that shows he still has some juice left in the tank.
Tommy McMillen vs. Marwan Rahiki
I couldn’t love this matchmaking more. Take two undefeated dudes and let The MMA Gods sort ‘em out!
Tommy McMillen might be a future star in the eyes of the UFC, but he’s been given decent competition without being put in situations that are over his head. Marwan Rahiki is a fine prospect in his own right and stands to gain a lot here if he can derail the McMillen hype train.
I’m comfortable picking McMillen just based on what we’ve seen recently from Rahiki. He can take a hit and bounce back, which is always a good sign, but if McMillen hurts him, he’s not going to give Rahiki much room to breathe. As much polish as McMillen’s striking still needs, he has a knack for volume you can’t teach and that goes a long way towards separating him from the mid-tier of the stacked featherweight division.
McMillen will be put to the test here, because Rahiki has serious power and he’s going to come out firing. I look forward to these two heading into deep waters, and McMillen just outlasting his fellow prospect for a late finish.
Manon Fiorot (2, P4P-5) vs. Alexa Grasso (5, P4P-10)
Yeah, I said it: Manon Fiorot and Alexa Grasso should be fighting for the vacant flyweight title in the main event of UFC 332.
I’m a big Natalia Silva fan and I’m happy she’s getting her shot, especially considering she has a recent win over Grasso, but if I had to pick between these two matchups to headline a numbered event, it would be Fiorot vs. Grasso. I’ll hear it the argument that they could have done Fiorot vs. Silva and instead had Grasso fight Wang Cong at Noche UFC, but I still think Fiorot vs. Grasso is the best fight of all the permutations.
We know Fiorot and Grasso can bang, and this is definitely a contrast of styles on the feet with Fiorot arguably having more pop in her punches, while Grasso is more of a volume and combination striker (though Maycee Barber can attest to Grasso having no shortage of KO power). Fans should prepare themselves for a technical battle as opposed to a slug-it-out war.
I’m curious to see how much grappling factors into this matchup. Fiorot knows her way around a takedown, but Grasso has wicked instincts on the mat whether it’s attacking with a choke or laying in ground-and-pound. One stretch of sustained ground offense could make a huge difference on the cards.
This is way too close to call and I’m surprised that Fiorot is hovering around a healthy -250 as the favorite. I’m leaning towards Grasso to snag the upset via a stressfully close—and possibly contentious—decision.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta (7) vs. Curtis Blaydes (8)
What do we even make of the current state of Curtis Blaydes?
His brawl with Josh Hokit was ridiculously fun and showed a side of Blaydes we’d never seen before. On the other hand, in my eyes, that’s the kind of fight that diminishes an athlete and it wouldn’t surprise me if his chin isn’t the same going forward. Heck, Blaydes has already been on the receiving end of some brutal knockouts, so I’m not sure there’s much durability left.
That’s why I’ve got to go with Waldo Cortes-Acosta here. He’s not the athlete Hokit is, but I expect him to be able to handle the worst of Blaydes’ grappling when this becomes a wrestling match. He’s also a better puncher than Hokit, so anyone expecting Blaydes to take part in another brawl will be disappointed as a flurry from “Salsa Boy” should put him out.
That’s how I see this fight ending, with Blaydes having early success before he leaves that chin hanging and pays the price for it.
David Martinez (9) vs. Dan Ige
David Martinez gets in there and takes care of business, and that’s all he has to do to get past Dan Ige on Saturday.
This is Martinez’s fight to lose, with Ige dropping down to 135 pounds in an effort to prolong what has been a solid UFC career. Ige was finished for the first time by Melquizael Costa and took that as a sign that his days as a featherweight were over. I’m not sure moving down to a division with faster fighters who still hit plenty hard is the solution to his woes, but I haven’t fought over 20 times in the UFC, so what do I know?
Ige has shown flashes of explosive offense in his day, but he’s going to have a difficult time getting a bead on Martinez, who fights safe and smart and, frankly, knows how to win. If he can find his finishing touch against Ige, that would raise him up another level in my eyes, but for now Martinez is doing just fine staying the course.
Tim Elliott def. Edgar Chairez
Ignacio Bahamondes def. Muslim Salikhov
Yousri Belgaroui def. Djorden Santos
Tommy Gantt def. Drakkar Klose
Sean King def. Jessie Rosas
Regina Tarin def. JJ Aldrich
