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UFC Fight Night: Dober v Silva — Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Last night (Sat., July 13, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado for UFC Denver. Alas, it really felt like the promotion took an Apex event on the road. It didn’t help that both the scheduled main and co-main event bouts were marred by injury, but even at its best, UFC Denver was never a particularly high-profile night of action.

Fortunately, the fighters still delivered the action! Let’s take a look back over at UFC Denver’s best performances and techniques:

Rose Namajunas At Her Flyweight Best

Rose Namajunas’ previous two Flyweight fights were decent performances, but it didn’t feel like the woman who knocked out Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. She looked a little flat against Amanda Ribas and lost outright to Manon Fiorot, raising questions about how much “Thug Rose” had to offer at 125-pounds.

Circumstances aside, this victory restores some confidence in Namajunas as a title threat. She was exceptional in the early goings, dancing around Tracy Cortez and repeatedly stinging her with hard punches. Cortez hit a whole lot of air, and Namajunas proved a point further by outwrestling the bigger woman consistently throughout the 25 minute fight. A finish would’ve been nice, but a dominant win over a highly regarded up-and-comer is still a great notch in Namajunas’ cap.

Personally, I think the move is to rebook her opposite Maycee Barber, but it remains to be seen how the wonky Flyweight title picture shakes out. If indeed Valentina Shevchenko doesn’t want to fight Alexa Grasso in the Sphere, Namajunas could slip in as an alternative.

Jean Silva Is FOR REAL!

A couple weeks ago, Jean Silva highly impressed at UFC 303 by picking apart Charles Jourdain. He turned a veteran striker into a wrestler, then knocked out the durable Featherweight with a slick uppercut off a failed takedown. It was really powerful and composed work from the 27 year old Brazilian, a very notable performance.

Well, he just topped himself in a nearly unbelievable way. Silva stepped up on short-notice to fight at altitude versus Drew Dober, one of the biggest and most experienced men at 155-pounds. In fact, Dober is a hugely prolific knockout artist himself, known for his durability and toughness in a brawl.

All those circumstances add up to an unreasonably tall ask, yet Silva smoked him. He was touching Dober up from the first bell, which isn’t a total shock given that Featherweight speed advantage. What was more surprising was that Silva’s power made a clear impact on the iron chin of Dober, and he was relatively unbothered by the fire coming back his way. That trend largely continued as the rounds wore on, and Silva somehow never really slowed down despite the high pace, short-notice, and altitude.

For most of three rounds, Silva styled on Dober. He tore him up with counter punches and spinning elbows. Dober was saved by the bell at the end of the second, so “Lord Assassin” just finished him a second time by ripping open the cut above his eye further. Right after slicing Dober again, Silva pointed at the cut and told Herb Dean that the fight was over. It took a few seconds for Dean to clue in, but Silva was right on the money for the umpteenth time.

The guy is a problem. He might just have championship potential. It’s too early to be sure, but it’s not too early to say he’s going to knock out a whole bunch of people before his UFC career is up.

Classic Juicy J

Julian Erosa vs. Christian Rodriguez effectively demonstrated why picking Erosa fights is impossible.

Rodriguez spent most of the fight absolutely torching Erosa in the pocket, where the lanky Featherweight chooses to engage every time. He boxed the veteran up, punished his low hand position with a clean high kick, and was scoring well in just about every exchange. The tricky thing about Erosa, however, is that if you don’t manage to knock him clean out, he remains extremely dangerous.

This time around, the grappling allowed Erosa to change his fortunes. He caught a kick and tipped Rodriguez over, taking his back. It looked bad for “CeeRod,” but he showed his own skill by reversing into guard. He seemed fully in control when Erosa sat up and wrapped up his neck with a closed guard guillotine. That technique isn’t supposed to work in 2024, yet Rodriguez tapped frantically to relieve the crushing pressure on his windpipe!

You can’t ever trust him, but you also can never count out “Juicy J.”

A Veteran KO

He wasn’t necessarily winning through ten minutes, but Charles Johnson came into his fight with a lot of smart answers to Joshua Van’s relentless pressure and combination punching.

Right away, Johnson was looking to chip away at his opponent from the Southpaw stance, firing left kicks into the arms often and digging at the lead leg. He switched stances often and in combination, looking to sneak punches through the composed guard of his 22-year-old opponent. In general, variety was a great strength, as Johnson threw round kicks, punches at all angles, spinning strikes, and step-in elbows.

His problem was that Van hits a whole lot harder. The difference in impact was clear, and Johnson’s movement was a little funky. It looked like an MMA fighter trying to copy Muay Thai strategies, which while not a bad idea, will look a little odd compared to a true Nak Muay who has been doing it for decades.

All in all, the underdog “Inner G” kept it close through ten minutes. He turned it up in the final frame, however, really sitting on his punches and exploding forward right away. He clipped Van with a hook then floored him badly with an uppercut follow up, earning the stoppage win.

Johnson may not be a title threat at 125 lbs., but the division needs established names to test talented up-and-comers like Van, and he’s more than qualified. It doesn’t hurt that all of his fights are really fun too! As for Van, he’ll certainly be back and likely better after this learning experience — don’t give up on the young prospect.

Bantamweight’s Dark Horse?

It’s been clear to anyone paying attention that Montel Jackson is a very dangerous man.

First and foremost, “Quik” is massive for the division, 5’10” and physically strong. His wrestling background means he’s hard to take down, and Jackson takes advantage by unleashing his piston-like punches on anyone willing to step near him. He’s quietly put together an excellent UFC record, winning eight of his last nine after last night’s stoppage win over Da’Mon Blackshear.

As for the win itself … what’s there to say? Jackson sparked his foe in just 18 seconds with a perfect 1-2, timed as Blackshear tried to step forward into his own offense. Jackson is landing knockdowns — and now knockouts — with a scary consistency for the lighter weight classes, and it’s time to get him in the cage with a ranked opponent.

Anyone know what Jonathan Martinez is up to?

Additional Thoughts

Luana Santos defeats Mariya Agapova via first-round rear naked choke: This fight wasn’t remotely competitive. Santos floored Agapova very early with a right hand then slammed her to the floor with a massive Judo throw. Almost immediately, she was in mount, threatening an arm triangle. Agapova gave up the back to avoid that strangle, and the rear naked choke sunk in quickly. At 24 years of age, Santos has demonstrated a well-rounded game and won three straight in the Octagon, establishing herself as a serious prospect at 125 lbs.
Evan Elder defeats Darrius Flowers via second-round arm triangle (HIGHLIGHTS): One of the many short-notice bouts on the card, this one wasn’t particularly surprising. Elder didn’t have an impressive record heading into this fight (1-2 UFC), but he showed a pretty advanced skill set in victory or defeat. Flowers, meanwhile, has a weird mix of skills and no complete MMA game, and he was the man who stepped up to fight at altitude on short-notice! Predictably, it didn’t go well, and Elder was largely able to dominate his foe on the floor en route to the tapout win.

For complete UFC Denver: “Namajunas vs. Cortez” results and play-by-play, click HERE!