UFC Predictions: Noche UFC: Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva

The UFC heads to San Antonio, Texas next weekend for its third Noche event. As with the previous two, this event will celebrate Mexico's Independence Day.

Noche UFC: Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva naturally features a distinctly Hispanic flavor, with plenty of fighters on the card hailing from Mexico or Latin America.

With any hope, this event delivers the goods just as the previous two Noche shows did.

Here are the predicted outcomes for Noche UFC: Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva.

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#1. UFC featherweight bout: Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva

To say that this fight could provide fireworks is an understatement. In fact, if both men deliver the goods like fans know they can, we could well be in for one of the best fights of 2025.

So, will Diego Lopes rebound from a disappointing UFC title challenge to claim victory, or will Jean Silva pick up his biggest win to date?

Interestingly, if you look past Lopes' loss to Alexander Volkanovski, both men have pretty similar records in the octagon. They both came into the promotion as relative unknowns, quickly racked up exciting wins over progressively trickier foes, and didn't need long to rise into contention.

It's probably fair to say that Lopes has shown himself to be slightly more well-rounded. The Mexico-based Brazilian survived with the tough Movsar Evloev on the ground, even coming close with a submission or two, and then tapped out Gavin Tucker with an armbar.

While it was his aggressive striking that led him to his next three wins, the fact that he largely beat up the dangerous Brian Ortega on the ground was a real eye-opener. Sure, he was outclassed by Volkanovski, but there's no shame in that. Ignoring that, Lopes has very few weaknesses.

Silva, meanwhile, has quickly gained popularity for his coffin-nail style striking. 'Lord' is a remarkably heavy hitter, memorably dismantling the likes of Drew Dober and Melsik Baghdasaryan standing.

What about on the ground? The Brazilian did submit Bryce Mitchell in his last fight, an impressive win given Mitchell's grappling credentials. However, 'Thug Nasty' was badly hurt by that point, meaning it's still fair to argue Silva's striking power won him the night.

On the flip side, so much about 'Lord' is a bit of a mystery. We haven't seen him in a longer fight, we haven't seen him really come through adversity - although Dober did crack him a few times - and we haven't seen him tested on the ground either.

There have been occasions where a fighter like Silva simply carries their striking power all the way to a title shot without ever being tested or exposed - Francis Ngannou the first time around comes to mind.

However, those examples are few and far between, and when you add in the fact that Lopes is 4" taller than 'Lord' and will enjoy a sizeable reach advantage, it only ticks another box for the former title challenger.

Overall, then, Silva definitely has the chance of turning Lopes' lights out here; any fighter with that kind of power can't be counted out, after all.

However, given Lopes has not been stopped since 2018 and went five rounds with Volkanovski, it's hard to see him going down easily. It's much more believable that he might be able to pick at 'Lord' and outlast him down the stretch in what should be a five-round thriller.

The Pick: Lopes via decision

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#2. UFC bantamweight bout: Rob Font vs. David Martinez

Initially, this event's co-headliner would've seen longtime veteran gatekeeper Rob Font giving prospect Raul Rosas Jr. his biggest test to date.

That would've been a truly intriguing fight. Rosas Jr. has always shown elite-level potential, but Font has basically made a career of turning back the challenge of upstarts.

Unfortunately, late last month, 'El Nino Problema' was sidelined with a rib injury. With not much time at all, it would've been unsurprising to see Font pulled from the card too.

Instead, the native of Boston is now set to fight another prospect, albeit one with less hype around him, in Mexico's David Martinez.

'Black Spartan' made his octagon debut in his home country back in March, and it's fair to say it was impressive. He dismantled Saimon Oliveira, finishing him in the first round with a right hand and a violent follow-up combo.

So can Martinez pull off what would be a huge win here?

In all honesty, we don't know that much about the Mexican. From what we have seen, 'Black Spartan' possesses an excellent striking game, packs plenty of power, and has enough of a killer instinct to dispatch a hurt opponent.

However, while he has plenty of experience - he's 12-1 and has been fighting since 2016 - he hasn't fought anyone close to the level of Font before.

Font isn't the most exciting fighter, but he is definitely effective. At 5'8" and with a 71.5" reach, he's a rangy bantamweight, and he knows how to use that range. He's comfortable sitting behind his jab, using combinations from distance to pick his foes off.

Font is beatable, of course. He's lost to his better opponents like Jose Aldo, Cory Sandhagen and Marlon Vera, primarily because he just isn't that fast and explosive. If an opponent can get inside his reach, they can definitely go to work and outstrike him.

However, it is worth noting that he's remarkably tough, and over a long 30-fight career, has never been knocked out.

When you consider Martinez's late notice, then, as well as his habit of swinging hard, it feels like his only chance will be to put Font away early. Given Font's chin, that feels unlikely.

Font isn't a devastating finisher - his only recent finish came over Adrian Yanez in 2023 - but his toughness is probably going to carry him to victory here.

The Pick: Font via decision

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#3: Noche UFC: The Main Card

In a lightweight bout, Alexander Hernandez takes on Carlos Diego Ferreira. In many ways, this fight feels like it should've taken place years ago. Surprisingly, though, both men are on pretty solid runs right now.

Hernandez has actually won his last three bouts in a row, most recently surprising prospect Chase Hooper last month. Given that fight only took place on Aug. 16, this is a pretty rapid turnaround for him.

Ferreira hasn't fought since a loss to Grant Dawson in January, but prior to that, he'd won his last two fights via knockout. However, it's worth noting that those bouts took place in 2024 and 2023.

Given Ferreira's age (40) and the fact that he has fought so sporadically, he'd be hard to pick here. To add to this, Hernandez has tended to lose to better wrestlers than himself, and Ferreira shouldn't have that advantage. The pick, then, is Hernandez via decision.

At lightweight, Rafa Garcia faces Jared Gordon. Both of these men have similar records and come to swing, so in all honesty, this one could go either way.

With that said, Gordon is perhaps the more proven of the two - he's beaten some solid opponents and famously pushed Paddy Pimblett to the limit. Garcia doesn't quite have that pedigree, and so while it should be close, the pick is Gordon via decision.

In a middleweight bout, Kelvin Gastelum takes on Dustin Stoltzfus. Remarkably, Gastelum is still only 33 years old, but quite how much he has left now is hard to say. He's always had the same problem - he's too small for 185 pounds but can't reliably make 170 pounds - and his most recent loss, to Joe Pyfer, again saw him outsized.

Stoltzfus, though, does feel like the kind of fighter Gastelum ought to beat. He's only won three times in the octagon and has tended to lose to fighters with more skill on the ground in particular. It's unlikely he'll be able to stop Gastelum's takedown, then, and it also feels unlikely he'll outbox the TUF 17 winner, too. The pick, therefore, is Gastelum via submission.

Finally, also at middleweight, Jose Daniel Medina faces Dusko Todorovic. Todorovic has been around for a long time now, but he's never quite clicked in the octagon, and having lost his last three bouts, he could be in the last chance saloon here.

Medina, meanwhile, has also lost his only two visits to the octagon and looked basically out of his depth in his most recent bout.

Quite how this one has made the main card is anyone's guess, but Todorovic has at least shown some flashes of belonging in the UFC, therefore, the pick is Todorovic via KO.

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#4. Noche UFC: The Prelims

Picks in bold

UFC lightweight bout: Claudio Puelles vs. Joaquim Silva

UFC strawweight bout: Tatiana Suarez vs. Amanda Lemos

UFC flyweight bout: Jesus Santos Aguilar vs. Luis Gurule

UFC middleweight bout: Zachary Reese vs. Sedriques Dumas

UFC flyweight bout: Alessandro Costa vs. Alden Coria

UFC bantamweight bout: Montserrat Rendon vs. Alice Pereira

UFC welterweight bout: Rodrigo Sezinando vs. Daniil Donchenko

UFC bantamweight bout: Quang Le vs. Santiago Luna