Charles Johnson edged out a closely fought fight with Bruno Gustavo da Silva by split-decision tonight at UFC Fight Night 269

Round One

Silva pressuring right away. Good jab for Johnson and then tries to transition to the clinch. Silva battling with him in there and then Johnson lands a nice punch on the break.

Johnson with a push kick. Takedown attempt from Johnson fails. Elbow strike from Silva and presses him into the cage. Elbow from Johnson now as he gets away.

Johnson with an inside leg kick. A glancing strikes from him. Right hand placed well by Silva.

Silva clinches up against the cage again. Johnson defends a takedown. Nice elbow from Johnson as he fights his way back out the clinch, but Silva also works an uppercut in there.

Head kick from Johnson partially got through, but Silva is ok. Body kick for Silva. He comes close with an overhand right.

Round Two

Exchange in close to start the second round and Silva gets a couple of hooks in there.

Silva clinched up against the cage again now. Knee strike from Johnson to back Silva up. Silva strikes his way into a takedown. Johnson upright quickly, but still having to work from the clinch.

Johnson gets away. He lands a couple of nice kicks. Brief time-out for Johnson after a kick from Silva strays to the groin.

Back to it quickly. Hard right hand lands for Silva. Silva in on a takedown, but Johnson fends that off. Silva remains in the clinch though.

Back to striking range. High kick attempts from Johnson, but Silva lands punches in response. Punch for Johnson now to Silva’s already damaged left eye.

Low kick for Johnson and then attempts one upstairs. Nice uppercut for Silva on his way back into the clinch against the cage.

Johhnson with an elbow. Flurry of punches from Silva. Silva lands another punch to the jawline.

Clash of heads up against the cage so Johnson calls for a time-out and gets it.

Thankfully both fighters are soon ok to continue. Unfortunately soon after the reset Silva throws a kick that strays to the groin so another time-out is required. Johnson recovers and Silva gets away without a point deduction.

Solid body kick for Silva. Johnson with a leg kick.

Round Three

Body kick for Silva and then has to wrench his leg free from Johnson’s grip.

Jab for Johnson and then a low kick. Silva clinches up and moves him over to the cage. A few knees exchanged in close. Johnson consistently doing a good job off landing a strikes as they separate in these clinch situations.

Silva with a short flurry of punches. Now Johnson is the one initiating a clinch against the cage. They don’t stays there for long though. Silva with a good combination of punches, and now he’s clinching again.

Knee strike from Johnson as they separate. Now a body kick from him. Silva attempt a spinning elbow. Silva almost working a takedown attempt, but Johnson wriggles away.

Silva clinches, but eats a couple of elbows in close. Johnson with a knee to the body now.

Johnson with another elbow in the clinch. He punches to the body too. Silva with constant pressure, but Johnson lands a straight and a body punch.

Silva working the jab. Johnson knees to the body again and another punch. Now they are trading back-and-forth in the final few seconds.

Decision

This was a competitive battle then from start to finish, with Silva’s constant pressure making Johnson uncomfortable early on, but Johnson grew into the fight as time went on and had the edge in the final round. That led to a split-decision verdict from the judges, with Johnson emerging with his hand raised (29-28, 28-29, 30-27).