UFC Vegas 77: Holm and Silva Look to Capitalize on Golden Opportunity

By
Gabriel Gonzalez
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Holly Holm and Mayra Bueno Silva UFC Vegas 77
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 14: (L-R) Holly Holm and Mayra Bueno Silva of Brazil face off during the UFC Fight Night weigh-in at UFC APEX on July 14, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

With the women’s bantamweight title vacant, former champion Holly Holm and surging contender Mayra Bueno Silva look to deliver a statement making performance at UFC Vegas 77.

The difference one month can make can be drastic in the fight game.  For Holly Holm, the past several weeks have provided a new lease on life in the bantamweight division.  Earlier this year, the pursuit of new challenges for longtime title holder Amanda Nunes seemed like it would push “The Preacher’s Daughter” aside despite her own decorated resume.  But the departure of Nunes has opened the door for not only Holm but all the bantamweights.

For the 41 year-old former champion, the story is obvious.  She is arguably the biggest name competing in the division now, and is coming off a victory going into her latest headliner.  One could make the argument that she is in prime position to get a fourth opportunity to reclaim the belt should she win on Saturday and could have a favorable opponent in a title fight.  But there is also the other side of the coin: Being on the other side of 40 is unfavorable for any athlete and the statistics are not in her favor in UFC history.  At a time when younger contenders are now all hungry to fill the void, a stumble would seem catastrophic to say the least.

Enter Mayra Bueno Silva who at 31 years-old is ten years younger than the veteran who will be opposing her on Saturday.  The Brazilian standout was only four fights into her professional career when she received the call to be a part of Dana White’s Contender Series: Brazil in 2018.  The young prospect impressed that night, finishing her opponent by first round submission and earning a contract to join the promotion.  She would keep her momentum going later that year, going on to defeat Ultimate Fighter veteran Gillian Robertson.  But while her UFC career got off to a hot start, Silva would then have a year-long layoff and subsequently lost to Maryna Moroz upon her return.

“Sheetara” went on to split her next two fights, losing to current flyweight contender Manon Fiorot, before embarking on the win-streak that has brought her to Saturday night.  She routed Yanan Wu before recording pair of finishes, against Stephanie Egger and Lina Lansberg, to break into the top ten of the UFC rankings.  To say she is taking a leap in now facing a perennial title contender in Holm would be putting it mildly, but she is riding the kind of momentum that suggests there couldn’t be a better time to pull off the upset.  Consider that she would likely set herself up for a title eliminator with a victory, and it has the potential to be a career changing night for Silva.

Most assume that the fight for the vacant title will be between Raquel Pennington and former champion Julianna Peña, with the two former Ultimate Fighter teammates being on the division’s longest win-streak and having been scheduled for a recent title shot respectively.  Should the UFC choose to go in another direction, it would be difficult to argue against a big name in Holly Holm getting the shot against Peña in particular.  If either Holm or Silva are not granted a shot at the belt, then a fight with Ketlen Vieira or Irene Aldana (despite being former Holm opponents) would be potential opponents to move Saturday’s winner forward.

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