Erick Silva (15-3 1 NC, 3-2 UFC) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (17-2-1 1 NC, 8-2 1 NC UFC)
Silva and Kim will meet in a welterweight co-main event bout as both look to continue their rise up the welterweight rankings. Silva is one of the bright prospects in the UFC’s welterweight division, and he has fought five times in the UFC, posting a 3-2 record. He last fought in June scoring a 71-second submission win over Jason High at UFC On FUEL TV 10. Kim comes into this fight riding a two-fight win streak and he is 3-2 over his last five fights. He last fought in March where he won a unanimous decision over Siyar Bahadurzada at UFC On FUEL TV 8.
Fight Breakdown- Silva is a highly-touted and hugely-hyped fighter out of Brazil who has developed quite the following. He has been impressive during his five fights in the UFC, and by all right he should only have one UFC loss. He knocked out Luis Ramos in his UFC debut at UFC 134 in August 2011, but then suffered his first Octagon loss in controversial fashion in his next bout at UFC 142 in January 2012. It appeared that he had defeated Carlo Prater by knockout, but he was disqualified for illegal punches and suffered a loss. He bounced back with a submission win over Charlie Brenneman which led to the biggest fight of his career thus far. He met former title challenger Jon Fitch at UFC 153 in October 2012, and while Silva was on the losing end, many were impressed by his performance against a high-ranked fighter like Fitch, and it ended as one of the best fights of 2012. His quick submission win over Jason High in June showed his ability to bounce back quickly from tough fights, and he has another tough fight on his hand when he steps into the Octagon on Wednesday.
Kim has been around for a while in the UFC and he will be fighting for the 12th time in the Octagon. He only has two losses. One came to former champion Carlos Condit, and the other came to the man in the main event of this fight card, Demian Maia. Other than that, Kim hasn’t tasted defeat winning eight fights and being involved in one no contest. Despite that, Kim has been unable to test the waters of title contention, and a lot of that can be attributed to his style. He is almost like a welterweight Yushin Okami as he is big for the weight class, has an effective yet boring style, and he is a tough opponent to beat. He is not much of a finisher either as his last seven wins have come by decision and he hasn’t scored a finish since his UFC debut in May 2008. Any opponent stepping in the cage with Kim will need to be ready to go the full 15 minutes as Kim is always ready to unleash his suffocating style for 15 full minutes.
It is time for Silva to make a serious statement in the welterweight division if he wants to contend for the title, and Kim is the perfect opponent. Kim will try and establish his judo and clinch fighting to lead to the win but Silva has every chance to win the striking battle. Silva will need to show he worked on his conditioning, as in a tough battle with Fitch, he faded late, and Kim is a fighter that can easily mirror Fitch. Silva will need to mix it up on the feet and use his power to rock Kim. Kim can be knocked out, and Carlos Condit showed how to finish him with a flurry. Perhaps Silva will look to land a flying knee like Condit, or maybe it will be big overhand rights that do the job. Either way, he will need to keep his distance from Kim and keep Kim off balance as Kim will be looking to use his judo takedowns. Silva does have a black belt in judo, as well as in jiu-jitsu, but Kim’s judo throws he has shown in fights will give him the edge on paper in that department.
It is up to Kim to implement his style. If he is able to, it could be a long night for Silva. If he is unable to, it could be a long night for Kim. Kim is suffocating from the top position, but Silva has excellent submission skills and can fight off his back well. Kim does a solid job at establishing dominant positions and keeping them, and he will have to do that against Silva. Silva has a good sprawl, but Kim will be looking for his takedowns in ways that Silva will be unable to stop with a sprawl. Silva has to rock Kim on the feet as if this fight turns into a grind, it will fall in favor of Kim. Fortunately, Silva is good at keeping the fight upright and will use leg kicks to keep Kim honest. Silva will also have the crowd behind him in the fight, and that will play a huge difference. Kim seems to falter when on the cusp of being in the top ten, and Silva’s potential will be on full display in this one. It will be tough, but Silva will score the win in a hard-fought bout.
Why It Matters- A potential fight with a top ten opponent hangs in the balance for the winner, and it would be a huge step towards moving into the top ten for the winner. Kim wants to keep his win streak alive while Silva is looking to finally establish a win streak in the UFC. Silva has rotated wins-and-losses in his five UFC bouts, and that would indicate a loss in this one. However, Silva will do everything it takes to win, and he comes in with a lot of confidence.
Prediction- Silva
