Natalia Silva may have punched her ticket to a title shot after clearly outworking former champ Alexa Grasso at UFC 315.
Natalia Silva styled on former champion Alexa Grasso, and her own title shot may be right around the corner.
On the main card of UFC 315 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Silva (19-5-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) took on Grasso (16-5-1 MMA, 8-5-1 UFC) in an important matchup between top 5 women’s flyweight contenders. After 15 minutes, Silva got her hand raised after judges turned in unanimous 30-27 scores in her favor.
Silva came out light on her feet, striking early and often. Quick punches and kicks found their target at Grasso appeared to study Silva’s movements. Grasso was unable to get Silva to the ground in a scramble, and then was kicked square in the face later in the opening round. The first five minutes belonged to Silva, as she got the better of virtually every exchange.
In Round 2, Silva’s footwork and quick-twitch movements continued to be a problem for the former champion. Grasso chased Silva all over the octagon while offering a double jab, but couldn’t corral her opponent to cause significant damage. Aside from a late heated exchange in Round 2, Silva largely stuck to her stick-and-move approach.
With just five minutes remaining, Grasso needed something big to win the fight. The former champ turned up the forward pressure, but Silva was still too slick as she bounced around the octagon, sniping Grasso with quick shots. From beginning to end, it was all Silva.
With the win, Brazil’s Silva improves to 7-0 in the UFC and is now on the verge of a shot at the title, which will be on the line in the co-main event. Since entering the promotion in 2022, Silva has continued to shine as her level of competition has steadily increased.
Grasso walks away with her second consecutive loss, as she entered this fight after losing the flyweight title to Valentina Shevchenko in a trilogy bout at UFC 306 in September. Prior to the three fights against Shevchenko, Mexico’s Grasso won four consecutive fights to earn a shot at the title, which she won at UFC 285 and retained in a split draw at the first Noche UFC in 2023.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 315 results
- Natalia Silva def. Alexa Grasso via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Benoit Saint Denis def. Kyle Prepolect via submission (arm triangle) – Round 2, 2:35
- Mike Malott def. Charles Radtke via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 0:26
- Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Jessica Andrade via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:40
- Modestas Bukauskas def. Ion Cutelaba via split decision (27-30, 30-27, 29-28)
- Navajo Stirling def. Ivan Erslan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
- Marc-Andre Barriault def. Bruno Silva via KO (punches) – Round 1, 1:27
- Daniel Santos def. Jeong Yeong Lee via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Bekzat Almakhan def. Brad Katona via KO (punch) – Round 1, 1:04
