Jean Silva’s stoppage win over Drew Dober at UFC Denver came as a blow to the Brazilian.
Silva quickly moved up in weight to replace Mike Davis in the lightweight bout at UFC on ESPN 59 in Denver on Saturday. This also marked Silva’s return two weeks after his brutal knockout win over Charles Jourdan at UFC 303.
Silva got up fast and clean, opening a cut above Dober’s right eye in the first round and ultimately finishing him off. Silva continued to inflict more damage, and despite Dober’s tenacity, the cut worsened, forcing referee Herb Dean to call in the cageside doctor in the third round. Dober was deemed unable to continue, and Silva was awarded the stoppage victory, which was also named “Fight of the Night.”
Silva missed out on the 1.5-pound weight cut for his featherweight win over Jordaan and was therefore ineligible for the bonus, but the Brazilian has no plans to move up to lightweight permanently despite the win, and he admitted the win left him sore all over.
“I have to watch the fight again to find out what the hell happened. I’m broken and everything hurts,” Silva told Full Send MMA. “I don’t want to fight at lightweight anymore.”
Silva’s back-to-back stoppage wins in the space of two weeks have certainly caught the attention of opponents.
“I could tell some guys were really into this fight,” Silva said. “I got there and crazy things were going to happen.”
Silva earned himself a UFC contract following a unanimous decision victory over Kevin Vallejos on Dana White’s Contender Series in September 2023. After three consecutive finishes in the space of seven months, the Brazilian claims he’s ready to fight again on the Contender Series.
“If it’s not next week, it could be Contender Series… I don’t have time,” Silva said.[Whether] This is the Contender Stage, this stage is all about going out and bangers. It’s banger season.”
