Jean Silva may be unhinged, but that certainly hasn’t stopped him from turning the chaos into success inside the Octagon. “Lord” capped off the Noche UFC main event with a vicious one-arm rear-naked choke, submitting Jose Miguel Delgado at 2:57 of the third round. However, the victory came after a bizarre and polarizing sequence of events.
Even before stepping into the cage, Silva was visibly emotional, shedding tears during his entrance. Once the fight began, things got even stranger. The Brazilian kept his hands up but barely offered any offense, failing to land a single strike during the opening three minutes.
Delgado took full advantage and tagged him with a couple of leg kicks. The Mexican even scored a vicious knockdown that appeared to snap Silva out of his slumber. Silva finally started fighting back after that, but he still didn’t do enough to clearly steal the round on the scorecards.
Round two was a completely different story. Silva started finding his range, landing some solid shots and getting plenty of ground control while entertaining the crowd with some wild attacks. Delgado remained competitive, but he struggled to land anything of significance.
Silva completely took over in the third, relentlessly chasing Delgado and hunting for the finish. After catching a flush right hand, Delgado shot for a low single-leg, but Silva quickly took his back.
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The Brazilian used body shots to establish a strong position before trapping Delgado’s left arm with his legs. Silva then wrapped his left arm around Delgado’s neck and squeezed, while using his right arm to tie up Delgado’s right arm and secure the vicious submission.
The post-fight celebration was somehow even more chaotic. Silva appeared to shrug Delgado off while his opponent was still on the canvas before running over and scaling the cage toward Hunter Campbell, who was sitting nearby.
He then started chewing the tape off his gloves as confused UFC and commission officials looked on. As it turned out, Silva simply wanted to hand Campbell his gloves as a symbolic promise that he would become the next featherweight champion.
Jean Silva took his gloves off and gave them to Hunter Campbell 😂
📺 @paramountplus https://t.co/bw7AR9CSgC
— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) September 13, 2026
During his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier, Silva had a message for the Arizona crowd. He said, “This is for you guys. This is the show I bring in for you guys. No animosity from me. This is for you, and you deserve this.”
He then turned his attention toward the featherweight title picture. “This message is not for the division. It’s for the next champion. Whoever holds that belt, the next champion is right here. There’s a new champion in tow.”
With the victory, Silva is now riding a two-fight winning streak. More importantly, he made it clear that he wants a shot at the winner of Alexander Volkanovski vs. Movsar Evloev, who will battle for the featherweight title in the UFC 333 main event on October 24.
Noche UFC Event Full Results
- Jean Silva beat Jose Delgado via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:57
- Brandon Moreno beat Joseph Morales via split decision (27-30, 30-27, 30-27)
- Tommy McMillen beat Marwan Rahiki via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
- Alexa Grasso beat Manon Fiorot via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Curtis Blaydes beat Waldo Cortes-Acosta via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- David Martinez beat Dan Ige via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Tim Elliott beat Edgar Chairez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ignacio Bahamondes beat Muslim Salikhov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Yousri Belgaroui beat Djorden Santos via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:25
- Tommy Gantt beat Drakkar Klose via submission (reverse triangle choke) – Round 3, 2:46
- Rong Zhu beat Rafa Garcia via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Sean King III beat Jessie Rosas via knockout (slam) – Round 1, 0:36
- Regina Tarin beat JJ Aldrich via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Kshitiz Kumar Singh is a UFC Writer at NY Fights with over three years of experience in sports journalism and content creation. Known for his sharp storytelling and passion for combat sports, he has written in-depth features on stars like Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, and Ilia Topuria. Before joining NY Fights, Kshitiz worked as a UFC Editor at EssentiallySports while currently serving as a WWE Editor at FirstSportz. His admiration for legends like Georges St-Pierre continues to inspire his detailed and engaging MMA coverage. Whether he’s covering the Octagon or the squared circle, Kshitiz is committed to delivering accurate, high-quality content. Outside the world of sports, he’s a dedicated cinephile, often found practicing monologues from his favorite Al Pacino films, combining his love for cinema with storytelling.
