MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month for September: An instant lightweight classic at Sphere

In what was her most high-profile test to date, Natalia Silva (17-5-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) defeated former UFC champ Jessica Andrade (26-12 MMA, 17-10 UFC) in a high-paced women’s flyweight bout.

For the majority of the 15-minute duration, the bout between Silva and Andrade was action-packed. Andrade was predominantly the one moving forward, but Silva found success on the backpedal. Her counters and spinning kicks were effective. In Round 2, she stunned Andrade with a big punch to the left side of her head. Andrade also had her moments, but they were fewer and farther between as Silva claimed the unanimous decision.

Alexia Thainara (11-1) made her statement for a UFC contract when she put on a dazzling striking display over Rose Conceição (7-1) for a lopsided unanimous decision.

Thainara put the pace on Conceição from beginning to end in the strawweight bout. Conceição made it entertaining by sticking in the pocket and trading big shots, but her blows here far less effective, and therefore she shouldn’t halt the force of Thainara.

Daniel Barez (17-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) went at Victor Altamirano (12-5 MMA, 2-4 UFC) from opening bell of their flyweight bout and, aside from a more challenging round, found a clear path to victory.

The power of Barez rocked Altamirano multiple times and dropped him once in the final seconds after pointing to the ground in a Max Holloway-esque fashion. The fight went the distance, but Barez left with a unanimous decision.

Lewis McGrillen (10-1) and Alexander Luster (9-1) embraced the definition of slugfest in one of the wildest bantamweight bouts in PFL history.

According to PFL statistics, McGrillen and Luster combined for 14 knockdowns landed in less than 12 minutes of action. The final one is what mattered most, because McGrillen shut the lights off Luster in a violent fashion less than two minutes into the final round.

The winner