Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva lives up to the hype

The two men spent the past several weeks firing verbal salvos at each other – stemming from Silva questioning why Brazilian Lopes also identifies as Mexican – and the heat carried over to UFC Fight Night 259, with Lopes finishing Silva by TKO in their Noche UFC headliner at Frost Bank Arena in San Antonio, Texas. The wild finish came at the 4:48 mark of Round 2 after Lopes (27-7 MMA, 6-2 UFC) landed a spinning elbow that dropped Silva (16-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC), allowing Lopes to swarm in with punches and forcing referee Mike Beltran to stop the fight.

The tone for violence was set in the early going of the first round. Silva almost immediately found success with timing front kicks up the middle, while Lopes’ leg kicks did a number on Silva’s calf. Then things changed dramatically after Silva whiffed on a spinning back kick, which allowed Lopes to take him down and immediately take his back. That quickly turned into Lopes mounting Silva and raining down ground-and-pound. Lopes was vicious with 12-6 elbows that cut open Silva on his head and had the Brazilian scrambling to escape. The onslaught lasted almost 3 full minutes before Silva managed to escape. Once standing, Silva landed another had front kick to Lopes’ chin in the final minute, but he ate it well. Still, it was a clearly dominant round for Lopes, who earned 10-9 from all three judges.

The action in Round 2 picked right up with Lopes and Silva talking to each other while also trading punches. A counter right hand seemed to stagger Lopes briefly. Silva began throwing combos with success, signaling that he was getting into the flow of the fight. Silva might’ve gotten a little too comfortable, though, as the two men starting wildly throwing at each other. When Silva closed in with a right hand, Lopes timed a spinning elbow that landed on Silva’s head, dropped him and bloodied him up, leading to the crazy finish.