Venezuela’s Erik Silva was looking to shake off a two-fight skid and two-year layoff while securing his first victory inside the octagon when he faced Francis “Fire” Marshall at UFC Mexico City on Saturday.
The featherweight bout found Marshall entering with a 2-3 record in the UFC overall, coming off a controversial split decision loss against Mairon Santos. With two of those three losses coming via Split Decision, Marshall locked in on making a statement.
Round 1 – Silva opened the fight up with a spinning wheel kick, followed by some clean side kicks. Marshall tried to take back the center of the cage, but poked Silva in the eye. After a brief pause, Marshall landed a quick double-leg takedown, which Silva tried to counter with a guillotine. Marshall scrambled his way out and got the fight back to the ground, landing punches in half guard while working for an arm triangle. Silva defended well but gave up mount in the process, then swung to his back, where Marshall was quick to lock up a Rear-Naked Choke. After a couple of seconds of a tight squeeze, Silva’s face went red, and he was forced to tap. Marshall gets the statement win he was looking for and improves to 3-3 in the UFC.
Marshall said it felt good to get back in the win column with a big finish and thanked his team of American Top Team after the win.
Official Result: Francis Marshall def. Erik Silva by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Round 1, 2:29
