Thiago Silva had to endure a frustrating couple of rounds against Stanislv Nedkov at UFC On Fuel TV 6 before a strong third round performance lead to a submission victory.
Nedkov charged forward with a flurry of strikes in the opening minute of the round and pressed Silva up against the cage.
The action stalls a little until Silva looks for a high knee and slips. He gets back up to his feet and the two start swinging wildly at each other, but nothing really finds it’s mark. The attack doesn’t last long though and they settle into the clinch for a while again before breaking free.
Silva lands a heavy leg kick that buckles Nedkov slightly, but he seems unphased and retaliates by unloading another combination as he charges forward and tries to fish for a takedown up against the cage.
He can’t force the fight to the mat, but Nedkov seems comfortable working from the clinch and so sticks their for much of the remainder of the round, while Silva occasionally tries to counter by going for the thai clinch, but can’t get it locked in for long enough to start unleashing offense.
Onto round two and Nedkov has an unfortunate start as a kick from Silva strays to his nether regions and forces a stoppage.
He’s able to continue after a break though and goes straight back into the clinch up against the cage. There’s not a lot happening though and doesn’t wait too long to break them up.
Not put off Nedkov quickly presses the action back to that same position again. Again it’s pretty much a stalemate and they break up with Silva landing a knee to his mid-section.
Another dull clinch-exchange later and they finally reset in the center of the Octagon and look to strike. Nedkov looks more hesitant and Silva presses forward and starts to put a few punches together.
Eager to make something of this brief window of opportunity Silva moves forward again and misses with a big strike before Nedkov counters with a big overhand right that lands hard and drops Silva. Nedkov wades in looking for a finish on the mat, but Silva is able to defend and make it to round three.
Silva needs to do something big now if he wants to win this one, and he smartly opts to reverse the trend of the fight thus far and put Nedkov on the back foot. A couple of strikes connect and do just that, allowing Silva to rush forward and get him against the cage before quickly managing to do what his opponent couldn’t which is to bring the fight to the mat.
Instantly he transitions to full mount and this doesn’t look like a good spot at all for Nedkov. Silva is wasting no time at all in hunting for a finish and manages to step off to one side with an arm triangle secured and Nedkov soon taps, handing the Brazilian the submission victory with 1.45mins of the third round gone.
Silva ends Nedkov’s 12 fight unbeaten run with this victory while also earning his first win in four fights.
