UFC: Holly Holm favoured in fight night main event vs Mayra Bueno Silva

After former women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes retired from fighting, the UFC does not have a women’s bantamweight champion. Nunes was a dominant champ and one of the greatest fighters in UFC history.

Her retirement has opened the door for a new champion to emerge from the division. Holm and Silva are two of the top ranked women in the division, so this fight will be an opportunity for the fighters to get into title contention.

The Fight

This is a fight between two of the top women’s bantamweight fighters in the UFC. Both fighters are ranked in the top 10. Holly Holm is the betting favourite ahead of the fight on UFC betting sites. Holm has -163 odds to win the fight on 888Sport, slightly ahead of Mayra Bueno Silva. Silva is the underdog. She has +130 odds to win the bout. Holm is ranked third in the women’s bantamweight division, and Silva is ranked at 10.

Holly “The Preacher's Daughter” Holm

Holm is a UFC veteran and has been in the fight game for a long time. She is a former women’s bantamweight champion. At 41 years old, Holm has fought some of the best the UFC has to offer. She fought Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Valentina Shevchenko, Cris Cyborg, and Nunes to name a few. Holm is 1-4 in those fights. Despite this and her age, Holm should be one of the toughest fights of Silva’s career because of her experience. There aren’t many fighters that have a list of opponents that is as impressive as Holm’s. 

We might be this close from having a main event Down Under! 🤏

🏆@Stylebender versus 🇿🇦@DricusDuPlessis is going to be WILD! #UFC290 pic.twitter.com/wy6Nz5JWQu

— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) July 10, 2023

One of the biggest concerns about Holm heading into this fight is her age. At some point Holm’s age will hurt her ability to perform in the octagon, but her last couple of fights have shown that she can still compete at this level. Silva has not often been a fighter who fights at a high pace, so Holm’s age might not be as big of a factor in this fight as it might be with someone who fights at a higher pace.

Mayra “Sheetara” Bueno Silva

Silva is the underdog in this fight. She doesn’t have Holm’s resume, but she is the younger fighter, 31 years old, has a couple of ways to win fights, and still has time and room for improvement. Silva has shown the ability to strike and pull off submissions in the UFC. Four of her five wins in the UFC came by submission. And she is dangerous while on her back, Silva will submit Holm if she does not respect her submissions.

Beating Holm will be a tough task for Silva because Holm is one of the better female strikers in the UFC. Silva was beaten by Manon Fiorot in a fight that was basically a stand up fight. If this fight is anything like the Fiorot fight, Silva does not have a great chance to win this fight. Based on her previous fights, Silva will probably need to submit Holm to beat her.

UFC Fight Night card