Alex da Silva grappled his way to his first career UFC victory at UFC Uruguay, defeating Rodrigo Vargas by unanimous decision in Montevideo.
Rodrigo Vargas made his promotional debut at UFC Uruguay, following a three-fight run in Combate. He went 2-1 in Combate, winning his last two bouts. In his most recent fight, in May of last year, the 33-year-old Mexican defeated UFC veteran Mike De La Torre with a head kick knockout 18-seconds into the bout. Vargas stepped-in on short-notice in Montevideo, taking the place of injured Rafael Fiziev.
Vargas’ opponent, Alex da Silva, fought for the second time under the UFC banner in Montevideo. Da Silva made his UFC debut on short-notice in April, losing to promotional veteran Alexander Yakovlev via submission in the second round. The Brazilian was 20-2 in his professional MMA career ahead of UFC Uruguay, but had gone 2-2 in his last four fights.
Both fighters came out throwing heavy strikes in the opening seconds. Da Silva decided that wasn’t a great idea, and got the fight to the ground. The Brazilian held top-control, and eventually took the back of Vargas as the fight moved to the cage. With both hooks in, Vargas fought the hands of da Silva, but da Silva stayed in control for the opening minutes of the fight.
The final minutes of round one were more of the same, as the da Silva controlled the back of Vargas, while failing to do much damage or threaten with a submission attempt. Vargas was able to reverse position in the final seconds of the round, but was likely down on the scorecards after the first five minutes.
Vargas landed the first strike of note early in round two, landing a front kick to the face of da Silva. Da Silva was able to respond with some solid punches of his own, before Vargas shot a takedown attempt that would end up with da Silva in top position on the ground. Da Silva landed a few solid shots while taking the back of Vargas, and eventually ended up in full guard at the midway point of round two. Once again, da Silva out-grappled Vargas throughout the final minutes, and was in control through two rounds in Montevideo.
Vargas needed a finish in round three, and was able to keep the fight on the feet and throw some head kicks and heavy punches, none of which landed in the opening minutes. After a flurry, da Silva was able to successfully get the fight back to the ground with three minutes left in the bout. The end of round three was the same as the previous two rounds, as da Silva tallied double-digit minutes in top position, ending the fight in top control.
Result: Alex da Silva def. Rodrigo Vargas by unanimous decision (30-27×3)
Check out all of the results from UFC Uruguay here!
