UFC Fight Night: Lopes vs. Silva Predictions

UFC Fight Night 259 aka Noche UFC 3: Lopes vs. Silva takes place on Sunday (AEDT) at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, United States. – and we’ve got our UFC predictions for all the fights below, and you can place your bets with the best betting sites Australia has to offer!

Noche UFC 3 Predictions

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Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva Prediction

Diego Lopes came off second-best in his featherweight title shot against Alexander Volkanovski last time out, and now goes up against a rising star in the division, Jean Silva, who has won all five of his UFC fights so far.

Lopes struggled to deal with the technical striking and fight IQ of Volkanovski last time out, resutling in the end of his five-fight winning streak, but he was still able to demonstrate his power by dropping the veteran star, and also showed off his own sturdy chin over the course of five rounds. The 30-year-old Lopes will look to make the most of a 4″ height and 3.5″ reach advantage over Silva on Saturday night. Lopes has a good gas tank and so is able to constantly apply pressure, while he strikes with respectable accuracy as well as power and doesn’t flinch at eating some shots in return along the way. Lopes also has an active ground game as he’ll aggressively hunt for submission attempts and does a nice job of chaining them together when required. And though his last few fights have ended on the scorecards, overall Lopes has 22 finishes from 26 career wins, with 12 of those being by submission.

The 28-year-old Silva has been a revelation in the 145lb ranks so far, with all five of his fights ending inside the distance. Silva exudes confidence and it’s not hard to see why as he’s an excellent striker who not only has speed and power on his side, but also reads his opponents very well and is calculated in the way he picks them apart with versatile and accurate offense. Silva has a knack for seeing his opponents strikes coming in order to evade them and unleash counters, and he also has sharp takedown defense too, complimented by the threat of elbows and uppercuts to increase the danger level for anyone trying to take him to the mat. Silva prefers to stand and is quite nimble at getting back to his feet if grounded, but he is able to work for submissions too, as evidence last time out when he finished Bryce Mitchell with a ninja choke. Like Lopes, Silva is a proven finisher, with only one of his 16 victories going to the scorecards, and the vast majority of those coming via strikes.

Two talented fighters here, but Silva in particular does seem like something special in the way that he operates. That could be a real problem for Lopes on the feet as Silva can be a slick operator like Volkanovski, but is a harder, more dynamic hitter. As such I think we’ll see Lopes trying to implement his ground game here, but Silva’s speed and agility will make him tricky to take down. And in the end I think Silva will just have too much for him to deal with offensively, though his granite chin might just enable him to make it to the final bell.

Jean Silva to win by Decision

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Rob Font vs. David Martinez Prediction

Rob Font comes in off back-to-back victories to take on a short notice replacement in David Martinez, who made his UFC debut back in March with a KO victory to go 12-1 in his career to date.

Even a year ago there were concerns the 38-year-old Font could be in decline after losing four of his previous five fights, though that had to be balanced by the fact he’d been going up against some of the divisions best fighters. Since then he’s proven he does still have more to offer by beating two younger, in-form fighters in Kyler Phillips and Jean Matsumoto, and now he faces another. Font has a good boxing game that’s built around a trusty jab that’s been finely-tuned over years of competing in the Octagon. While he’s not the hardest hitter he has good speed and stays active offensively with good pressure, and he can mix in the occasional takedown too. He’s not immune to being hurt at this stage in his career, but he’s still never been finished via strikes, and while he can be taken down and outgrappled, he’s only ever been submitted once.

The 27-year-old Martinez had a strong finishing record on the regional scene, and he showed he can reproduce that form in the Octagon by KO’ing fellow Contender Series recruit Saimon Oliveira in his promotional debut after landing a crushing right hand counter in the opening round followed by a knee to the head. That was his 10th stoppage via strikes in 12 career victories courtesy of a dynamic muay thai game that blends fast kicks and punches together with a knack for landing more exotic techniques with admirable accuracy. Oliveira also has good movement and so far has had respectable takedown defense too, but we’ve yet to see much of his ground game.

This is a huge step up in competition for Martinez, and he’s doing so on just a couple of weeks notice. He seems like a fighter who is confident in his ability though and so may not be overawed by the opportunity. He’ll be the more diverse, potent striker here and have a speed advantage too, but the more experienced Font’s focused style, pressure and reliable jab could disrupt his flow. I like Martinez though to rise to the occasion and put Font in trouble on the feet, though he’ll ultimately settle for a decision win.

David Martinez to win by decision

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Rafa Garcia vs. Jared Gordon Prediction

Rafa Garcia comes in off a decision win over Vinc Pichel earlier in the year to fight Jared Gordon, who KO’d Thiago Moises back in May.

A former Combate Americas lightweight champion, the 31-year-old Garcia didn’t get off to the best of starts in the UFC back in 2021, but he’s since steadied the ship to go 5-4 overall in the Octagon. Garcia is a respectable all-rounder, but he’s more of a threat on the mat with his good grappling ability that’s led to eight submission finishes in 16 career bouts. He’s also a capable, aggressive striker, but he’s doesn’t have notable finishing power and did suffer his first ever loss to strikes in October of last year.

The 37-year-old Gordon pushes a good pace, has decent power and has shown some improvement to his boxing game over time to compliment his wrestling and active ground-and-pound. There was a time earlier in Gordon’s career where it looked like his chin was failing him after suffering three losses via strikes in the space of a couple of years, but to his credit it’s now been five years since since he was last stopped in that fashion.

Two solid but not spectacular fighters here and that should make for a competitive fight, but I think Gordon will have enough between his striking and wrestling to edge out a decision win.

Jared Gordon to win by decision

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Kelvin Gastelum vs. Dustin Soltzfus Prediction

Kelvin Gastelum comes off a unanimous decision loss to Joe Pyfer earlier in the year to fight Dustin Soltzfus, who also lost out on the scorecards in his last appearance against Nursulton Ruziboev.

The 33-year-old Gastelum has stuck around in the UFC for over 12 years now, but the latter half of that run has been a big disappointment, with seven losses in his last 10 fights. Gastelum’s inability to make the welterweight limit has certainly been an issue as his short, stocky frame puts him at a disadvantage up at 185lbs, but it has to be said that he’s also a fighter who has failed to develop his skill-set over the years too. Instead, Gastelum has stuck to a fairly limited arsenal of strikes and relied a lot on his fast hands and footwork, together with sturdy durability to survive rather than thrive in the division. Gastelum does have decent power too for his size, although it’s been eight years since he last finished a fight, and we don’t see much of his wrestling these days.

Stoltzfus is 33-years-old too and his UFC record also leaves a lot to be desired, having only won 3 of his 9 fights in the Octagon. Stoltzfus is a steady kickboxer, but he’s on the slower side, and despite a KO finish against Marc-Andre Barriault last year he’s not typically known for his stopping power with only three wins via strikes in 23-fights. He’s also had durability concerns in the past, with two of his last three defeats coming via first round strikes. As such, Stoltzfus works better when he’s mixing things up to find success, having solid wrestling and a capable submission game that’s brought six finishes, though he has also been tapped out himself a couple of times in the UFC.

Gastelum hasn’t found much joy at 185lbs in recent years, but stylistically this feels like a favorable match-up for him as he’s got a clear speed advantage over Stoltzfus on the feet, is more durable, and though his wrestling seems to be eroding I still feel it may be good enough here to keep the action upright. I’ll take Gastelum to win by decision.

Kelvin Gastelum to win by decision

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Alexander Hernandez vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira Prediction

Alexander Hernandez has won three fights in a row over the past year and now looks for another win against Carlos Diego Ferreira, who came into 2025 off of back-to-back wins, but suffered a decision loss in January.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Hernandez had won only four out of his previous 11 fights, which felt like a case of wasted potential, so it’s good to see that he is now finally gaining some much needed momentum. The 32-year-old Hernandez is a physically strong fighter with good boxing, respectable power and solid kicks, while he can also mix in a capable wrestling game too. Hernandez’s energetic style can wear on his cardio though, which has seen him fade at times in the second half of his fights.

Ferreira is a curious case in that he used to be a significant player in the division who at his peak was on a six-fight winning streak, only for the wheels to seemingly fall off in 2021 when he suddenly looked a shadow of his former self while losing three fights in a row. A long absence followed, but just when it seemed like his career might be over, Ferreira returned in mid-2023 and looked right back on form with back-to-back wins via strikes. He is now coming off a loss to Grant Dawson and is getting on at 40-years-old, but when he’s on-form he’s still a threat with a well-rounded skill-set that includes active striking, decent wrestling and very skilled BJJ ability. He was TKO’d twice during his slump in form though, and his cardio was poor during that time too, but despite his age he seems to have improved on that since then.

I’m picking Ferreira here, but I must admit to doing so cautiously given his age and the lingering memory of that terrible 2021 campaign. Over the course of his career he’s been more consistent and nuanced in his approach than Hernandez though, and I think his more active striking, better grappling and cardio gives him the opportunity to come away with a decision win here.

Carlos Diego Ferreira to win by decision

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Santiago Luna vs. Quang Le Prediction

Santiago Luna is 6-0 in his MMA career and now makes his UFC debut on two weeks notice against Quang Le, who lost his first two fights in the promotion, but picked up a submission win in May.

Luna, aka ‘Border Boy’ arrives in the UFC at just 21-years-old, and while he is unbeaten in six fights so far, there’s only so much you can read into that given that his standard of opposition has been low. That’s not his fault though, and he has performed well, finishing off all his opponents while showing off well-rounded skills. He generates good power in his punches that has sat down multiple opponents, has an effective array of takedowns and has finished four fights via submission so far. I could see him having to tighten up his striking defense quickly at the UFC level though.

The 33-year-old Le didn’t get off to the best of starts in the UFC, losing his first two fights, but the Vietnamese fighter gave a better account of himself last time out. Having previously spent the rest of his career in the LFA promotion, Le is the more experienced campaigner here and has an assured grappling game, and while he’s not the fastest or most dynamic striker he is calculated in his approach and can use that to set up takedown opportunities. He was KO’d the first time in his career last November though.

Given how young he is I’d have liked to see Luna get a more gentle on-ramp to the UFC than just being slung into a main card against a more established fighter on short notice. Le is the more crafty fighter here and may well pose him problems, particularly on the mat. However, Luna does show promise and has some good tools to work with, so I’ll take his more aggressive approach and heavier hands to lead him to a 2nd round TKO victory.

santiago Luna to win by TKO in Rd2

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Noche UFC 3 Prelims

(Predicted winners in bold)

José Daniel Medina vs. Duško Todorović
Claudio Puelles vs. Joaquim Silva
Tatiana Suarez vs. Amanda Lemos
Jesús Santos Aguilar vs. Luis Gurule
Zachary Reese vs. Sedriques Dumas
Alessandro Costa vs. Alden Coria
Montserrat Rendon vs. Alice Pereira
Rodrigo Sezinando vs. Daniil Donchenko

MMA Writer

Ross Cole

Ross Cole is one of the most prolific mixed martial arts writers in the world.

Having written more than 22,000 MMA news stories for MMA Insight, which he founded in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts.

Few people know the UFC and the sport of MMA like Ross, and he has built a solid reputation for being one of the best MMA tipsters in the world.

You can read more of Ross's work at MMAInsight.com.