Mayra Bueno Silva was understandably overcome with emotion after Saturday night’s UFC headliner, as the size of her latest achievement dawned on her. The 31-year-old Brazilian became the first since her compatriot and former two-division champion Amanda Nunes to stop Holly Holm, sending the future Hall of Famer closer to retirement – before calling for a shot at bantamweight gold.
Bueno Silva bulldozes her way into title picture at 135lbs
- After a career-best outing, Bueno Silva has since vaulted seven places to #3 in the women’s bantamweight rankings, Holly Holm drops to #5
- 31-year-old openly calls for Julianna Pena matchup to decide the promotion’s next bantamweight champion, pointing to the legacy her compatriot Amanda Nunes has left in during passionate post-fight speech
- SILVA: “I do what I say I’m going to do. I want that belt, I deserve it, nobody finishes like me! I’m the new face, I finish fights and give a show. This is my belt, Brazil’s belt, I’ll do this for Nunes, for my country and everybody.”
- Holm falls to 8-7 in the UFC – having now lost two of her last three fights – as many fans believe she’s unfairly being given excess spotlight at a time of flux and no real standout names or fresh faces in 135lb division
Well, Holly Holm was proven right. Last week I wrote an article on Raquel Pennington’s comments, suggesting her vs. Julianna Pena was a rightful matchup to decide the vacant women’s bantamweight title after Amanda Nunes’ retirement.
Holm was equally bullish about earning another title opportunity and said:
“I already had this fight [vs. Bueno Silva] scheduled before a lot of the division’s shake-up, but my focus is still on Saturday night because that’s all I’m promised right now – be present that night, see where we go.”
Things escalated quickly inside six minutes’ action at the UFC Apex on Saturday night, suffering an abrupt submission loss against Brazil’s Mayra Bueno Silva.
Naturally, it has prompted more retirement speculation after an anticlimactic display that has seen those title aspirations disintegrate almost completely overnight.
Holm won the first-round on all three judges’ scorecards, outstriking Bueno Silva 49-30 (26-19 in significant strikes) during that stanza, while logging 2:42 minutes’ control time to boot and being 11% more accurate with her output.
Holm’s long-time promoter and agent Lenny Fresquez told the Albuquerque Journal on Sunday she won’t retire now, especially after a fight-ending sequence like that. Her dominant decision win over Yana Santos in March? Already forgotten.
“Not even a question. Exclamation point. Make it a big headline: Holm not retiring!” was his response in a text exchange with Rick Wright.
This excerpt from the Journal article in question says plenty, on her mindset and riding off into the sunset on her own terms:
There’s this, too: Holm loves it. She loves the process, loves going to Jackson-Wink, where she’s with friends. She’s a fitness junkie. She doesn’t love to fight, necessarily, but loves having fought — at least when she wins.
Final word, until Holm is heard from post-fight: in a phone interview with the Journal on Thursday, she was asked what she would do in the event of a loss on Saturday — given the consequences. “There’s no way I’d walk away like that.”
Everyone’s all too quick to retire fighters after one bad loss, but Holm has produced a Hall of Fame career across two disciplines. That should warrant her the chance to go out on her own terms – whether she becomes a two-time world champion or not.
Rest of the main card, prelim results
Co-main event, rest of main card
Welterweight: Jack Della Maddalena bt. Bassil Hafez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Lightweight: Francisco Prado bt. Ottman Azaitar via R1 TKO (punches)
Middleweight: Park Jun-yong bt. Albert Duraev via R2 submission (rear-naked choke)
Women’s Featherweight: Norma Dumont bt. Chelsea Chandler via UD (30-27 x 3)
Lightweight: Nazim Sadykhov bt. Terrance McKinney via R2 submission (rear-naked choke)
Prelims
Featherweight: Melsik Baghdasaryan bt. Tucker Lutz via UD (29-28 x 3)
Women’s Strawweight: Viktoriya Dudakova bt. Istela Nunes via R1 TKO (arm injury)
Featherweight: Melquizael Costa bt. Austin Lingo via UD (30-26, 30-27 x 2)
Lightweight: Evan Elder bt. Genaro Valdez via UD (30-26, 29-28 x 2)
Flyweight: Azat Maksum bt. Tyson Nam via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Lightweight: Alexander Munoz bt. Carl Deaton III via UD (30-26, 30-27, 29-28)
Women’s bantamweight: Ailin Perez bt. Ashlee Evans-Smith via UD (30-25 x 2, 30-26)
Up next: London Fight Night card this Saturday, headlined by heavyweight Tom Aspinall’s [5] return from injury against perennial contender Marcin Tybura [10].
Picture source: Getty Images
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