Joaquim Silva battled his way to a unanimous decision victory over Clay Guida tonight at UFC On ESPN 52 in Texas.
Round One:
Inside leg kick and a punch thrown out by Guida. He lands another low kick. A couple of left hooks now and trying to work for a takedown, but Silva moves away and lands a glancing uppercut too.
Punch for Guida. Silva throws a head kick, but it just comes up short. A few punches missing the target from both men.
Leg kick for Silva now. Grazing hook from him. Guida lands a punch and catches Silva by surprise, knocking him to the mat for a split-second.
Guida pressing forward with even more purpose now, but then Silva connects with a big uppercut and hurts him! Now it’s Silva who is pouring on the pressure and gets the fight to the mat as he tries to work for a finish. Guida back up though under fire and eats an elbow, but is hanging tough.
Late in the round now and Guida drives in for a takedown to show he’s still got more to offer in this fight.
Round Two:
Hooks land for Silva. Missed head kick from Guida. Guida presses forward with punches and fakes a takedown.
Guida marching forward with punches again and this time does commit to a takedown and lands it. Silva up and has a guillotine attempt in the works here. Back on the mat Guida gets his head free and then is able to fight back to his feet.
Silva in the thai clinch now though landing punches and working knees. Guida punches his way back out the clinch though and now he’s marching forward again. Guida backing Silva up against the cage, but then Silva goes for the guillotine and drops to the mat with it.
Guida able to break out of the submission again and now he clinches Silva up against the cage and lands a few knees to the thigh.
Guida working for a takedown. Trying for a double, then to a single and back to the double, before finally landing it. Silva straight back up. Guida remains clinched up, lands a quick uppercut and is back into the takedown attempt. He brings Silva down but he pops right back up.
Guida continuing to try to wear down Silva in the final 20 seconds of the round as he thinks about another takedown and Silva drops down a few elbows.
Round Three:
Body kick for Silva to start the final round. Light low kick from Guida.
Silva warned for keeping his fingers open. Left hook and a low kick for Guida. Leg kick again for him. Fast head kick from Silva lands, but Guida wears it well.
Uppercut from Silva after foiling a takedown attempt. Silva taking the center of the Octagon here. Glancing left hook from Silva. Now a jumping knee to the head that misses.
Silva misses a hook and Guida drives into a takedown. Silva defending for now though as Guida presses him into the cage.
Silva cuts an angle to get off the cage and snaps him down to the mat. Guida readjusts on his knees and tries to work for the takedown again, but Silva defends it. Guida now back to pressing Silva into the cage again though.
Silva working for a guillotine and snaps Guida down to the mat. Guida back up. Silva still working the guillotine choke though and brings him back down with it. Guida gets his head free but Silva is on top. Guida does well to stand back up just before the round ends.
Decision:
A good competitive fight then, with Guida’s best work coming in the second round as he embraced the grind with takedowns and clinch work, but Silva had him hurt in the first round with an uppercut and had a solid showing in the third, landing a head kick and working for guillotine choke submissions to help steer the fight in his favor. As such Silva wins via unanimous decision (29-28 x3).
