Mayra Silva defeats Holly Holm in UFC Fight Night

MANILA, Philippines – One mistake was all it took and Mayra Bueno Silva was quick to take advantage of it as she submitted former women’s champion Holly Holm in UFC Fight Night at the Apex in Las Vegas last Sunday.

Holm was able to redden the Brazilian 10 years her junior with crisp jabs, but Silva landed more telling blows in the first round.

Come the second round, as Holm backed Silva into the fence, she made the mistake of dipping her head too low in order to get a takedown.

Silva quickly wrapped her arms around her neck for a modified and standing up guillotine choke to force the former women’s bantamweight champion to submit 38 seconds into the round. 

With the retirement of former champion Amanda Nunes, Silva's win brings some new blood to the division where the only real buzz was former champion Julianna Peña’s win over Nunes last year.

"I did what I said (I'd do). Now I want a belt, because it's what I deserve” Silva enthusiastically said after the match. “Nobody deserves it like me. Hey Juliana Pena, let's go! I'm a new face, I finish fights, I give everybody a show! This belt is my belt!"

In the co-main event Australian Jack Della Maddalena and newcomer Bassil Hafez figured in what was judged to be the “Fight of the Night.”

Hafez showed remarkable strength, resiliency and an ability to adapt as he gave Della Maddalena all he could handle in three rounds that went back and forth. While Hafez looked very impressive on the ground when the fight went to stand up, that is where the Australian would almost always clean his clock.

Bella Maddalena got the split decision win with two judges calling it his way 29-28 with Hafez grabbing one 29-28 vote for himself.

"That's what I wanted, a three round fight; cheers Bassil. I knew I had to push the pace. I knew it was close, but the judges make a lot of bad decisions so I knew I had a chance. I feel good, I'm ready to go (again) next week," enthused Bella Maddalena after the fight.

Other awards handed out included “Performance of The Night”, which went to Mayra Bueno Silva and Argentinean Francisco Prado, who destroyed Russian Ottman Azaitar via strikes at the 4:05 mark of the first round.

The UFC is shown every week live in the Philippines via the Premier Sports channel on Skycable and Cignal as well as on the TapGo TV streaming application.