Natália Silva is still undefeated in the UFC, and it looks like that run is now going to reach a title bout.
The Brazilian defeated former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) on Saturday at UFC 324, prevailing in a fight that wasn’t exactly high on action. The Las Vegas crowd inside the T-Mobile Arena booed Silva in her post-fight interview, and Silva herself admitted it wasn’t her best effort.
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“I’m sorry guys, because this was not my best moment,” Silva said via an interpreter. “I was not at my best. Only God knows how hard it was for me to be here now.”
Still, Silva’s 14th straight win (eight in the UFC) lines her up for the next shot at Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight belt, as Namajunas revealed earlier this week on “The Ariel Helwani Show.”
Silva already seemed deserving of the fight, having beaten two other former champs in Alexa Grasso and Jéssica Andrade, but instead stepped in to face Namajunas on short-notice after Grasso pulled out of the fight in December.
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As can happen in MMA, the matchup came down to its least interesting round. Namajunas held a decent edge in the second round; Silva was even better in the third round. That left the first round to decide the winner, a frame in which Silva landed 15 significant strikes and Namajunas landed 13, with no successful takedowns on either side.
The judges all landed on Silva, who has now won five straight fights via unanimous decision. It’s hard to reach the UFC mountaintop when finishes are a rarity for a fighter, but Silva’s talent has stood out enough that she’s likely about to make the final stretch.
Check out complete UFC 324 results, highlights and round-by-round play-by-play here.
