Promotional newcomer Erik Silva took on five fight UFC veteran TJ Brown early in the night at UFC 282 in Las Vegas.
Silva had won eight fights in a row, mostly by submission, including his Contender Series win, a first round TKO. Meanwhile Brown came in with a 2-3 record in the UFC after losing his last fight to Shayilan Nuerdenbieke by decision.
The first round began with TJ hurting Silva in the opening seconds of the fight and then shooting a takedown. He spent a good deal of time on top of Silva in the first round but Silva was able to reverse and create scrambles eventually. Both men got into dominant positions, attempted submissions, and got swept almost equally. Finally, at the very end of the round, they got back to their feet and swung to the bell. Silva showed off a wild striking style that emphasized power right hands at the expense of defense.
The second round started with more wild striking from Silva and Brown replied in kind. When Silva had Brown expecting more striking he shot and landed a takedown. After a minute or so on top he got overeager and got swept by Brown. TJ Brown quickly took the back of Silva where he spent the rest of the round, attempting rear-naked chokes ineffectively.
The final round started with Brown hurting Silva once more with a right hand and landing a knee that was only barely legal before getting a takedown. TJ Brown focused on controlling Silva mostly, knowing he was ahead on the scorecards, though he did look to threaten submissions or strikes when possible. Erik Silva just could not get off of his back. Finally with ninety seconds left in the fight TJ Brown was able to mount Silva and set up an arm triangle. After some resistance Brown passed to side control and forced Erik to tap, putting Brown back in the winner’s circle.
TJ Brown caps off a dominant performance via submission in round 3️⃣#UFC282 pic.twitter.com/SCyWQIp1u4
— UFC (@ufc) December 11, 2022
Official Result: TJ Brown def. Erik Silva by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 3, 3:41
