Gabriel Silva (8-1) vs. Kyler Phillips (D) (6-1)
Narrative: Somebody at the UFC clearly thinks highly of bantamweight Kyler Phillips, because he’s in the featured prelim slot against Gabriel Silva (brother of former UFC fighter Erick Silva). Or, they’re just looking to capitalize on his head kick win last time out in LFA. Either way, Phillips makes his debut at UFC Norfolk, after coming up short on TUF 27 (the undefeated season) then losing his first post-TUF bout. Coincidentally, that head kick came on the first day of the month (Feb 1), his octagon debut comes on the last day, in a leap year (Feb 29).
Shawn Bitter: Phillips is a fast starter with eight of his nine career finishes (pro & amateur) coming in the first round. He has shown to slow his pace as the fight goes on, but it’s the pace he throws at which causes that. On the feet, Silva is a very good striker, marching forward and firing right hook after left hook over and over again with a lot of power and excellent precision. He is always moving forward landing but he can also shoot in and get the takedown. Frankly, he does very well with his wrestling. Phillips is very light on his feet with a lot of movement and is very quick. He’s a kickboxer at heart with a lot of diversity in his kicks. He throws a lot of volume on the feet and while he doesn’t have power, he relies on his combinations. Phillips does have decent wrestling with solid jiu-jitsu. I’m going with Silva because he has more ways to win.
Max Freedman: Silva had quite an impressive UFC debut despite coming up on the short end to Ray Borg. He gets back on track in this one handing “The Matrix” an L in his UFC debut. Silva UD.
Kristen King: I slightly favor Kyler Phillips in his fight against Gabriel Silva because I see him giving the UFC veteran some problems on the ground. Phillips does some of his best work on the mat and it is not something that is easy to deal, even against a solid grappler like Silva. I think Phillip ultimately gets it done by way of unanimous decision.
Anthony Walker: N/A
Keith Shillan: Silva
Marcel Dorff: Kyler Phillips was one of the big favorites to win the Ultimate Fighter season he participated in. But he lost in the first fight to eventual winner Brad Katona. Phillips was supposed to fight Ray Borg in his UFC debut last year but that fight fizzled. Gabriel Silva lost his UFC debut to Ray Borg. The brother of Erick Silva impressed Dana White during the “Lookin’ for a Fight” episode. I expect Silva to get the job done via a dominant Unanimous Decision.
Ryan Fortune: Silva
Daniel Vreeland: Phillips
