The Scorecard | Noche UFC

After his win, Silva visited with UFC CBO Hunter Campbell at Octagonside and made clear that he wants the next shot at the undisputed featherweight title. Whether he gets his wish remains to be seen, but his main event victory certainly won’t have hurt his case.

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Brandon Moreno

Former two-time flyweight champion Brandon Moreno has flown the flag for Mexico in the Octagon for several years, so it was a little surprising to some that Saturday night was his first appearance on a Noche UFC card. And, after three tightly contested rounds with Joseph Morales, “The Assassin Baby” emerged with his hand raised in victory.

The matchup was a close, competitive affair with the pair trusting their striking through the first two rounds of the contest in what looked a pretty even matchup. Then, in the third, Moreno switched gears and mixed in a smartly executed takedown to help seal the final frame.

The scorecards were a little unusual, with two judges giving Moreno all three rounds, while the third scored it 29-28 to Morales. It felt like a close contest, and while the specifics of the scoring may have puzzled some, the fight itself showed that, while Morales is clearly a real talent at 125 pounds, Moreno remains one of the very best flyweights on the planet.

Tommy McMillen

For many keen watchers of the UFC, the featherweight matchup between Tommy McMillen and Marwan Rahiki was a Fight of the Night bout just waiting to happen. And, when the pair stepped into the Octagon in Glendale, they delivered, and then some.

The bout served up edge-of-your-seat action from the first minute to the last, as the pair battled back and forth in a superbly-matched contest that elevated both fighters’ stock over the course of the 15 minutes.

McMillen’s aggression saw him take control in the first round, but Rahiki’s sharpness and timing in the second saw him claim a big round in response. It meant the third round was do or die, and McMillen simply refused to back down as he bit down on his mouthpiece and, in a bout that was already at full throttle, found another gear to take the final round and claim the unanimous decision victory.

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In truth, both fighters came out of the contest with huge praise, but history is written by the winners, and McMillen got the chance to continue his winning story as the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate extended his perfect professional record with his third UFC win in five months.

Alexa Grasso

Fighting on Mexican Independence Day weekend seemed to bring the very best out of former women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, as she claimed an impressive unanimous decision victory over French former title challenger Manon Fiorot.

The crucial battle looked set to be in the stand-up realm, with Fiorot’s control of range and ability to fight on the outside going up against Grasso’s high-pressure boxing style. And it was Grasso who had the success early as she started and finished the opening round in dominant fashion, dropping Fiorot in the closing moments to put an exclamation point on a big opening round. Grasso continued to control the action through the second round and, although Fiorot rallied in the third, the former champion was never in serious trouble as she took the victory via unanimous decision to remind the division that she’s still very much in the championship picture at 125 pounds.

Curtis Blaydes

The last time we saw Curtis Blaydes in the Octagon, he found himself on the wrong end of the result after a wild scrap with Josh Hokit. This time around, “Razor” showed his pragmatic side as he used his composure and fight IQ to earn a unanimous decision victory over Waldo Cortes Acosta. The fight wasn’t the knock-down, drag-out crowd pleaser we saw in his loss to Hokit, but crucially it got Blaydes back into the win column as he mixed up his martial arts to good effect to earn a deserved, if less spectacular, victory. 

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Blaydes’ striking was economical and on point, while his takedowns were well-timed and effective as he kept “Salsa Boy” guessing for much of their three-round heavyweight contest to earn 29-28 scores on all three cards. But in a weight class where finishes create contenders, Blaydes will likely want a more emphatic result the next time we see him in the Octagon.

David Martinez