Jean Silva submits Delgado with scripted choke to demand UFC title shot

Jean Silva submitted Jose Delgado with a one-arm rear-naked choke in the third round of their Noche UFC 4 main event on 12 September in Glendale, Arizona, then immediately called for a featherweight title shot. The Brazilian’s Fighting Nerds team had mapped out the finish in detail before fight night — and Silva says it played out almost to the letter.

“It’s crazy to say this, but it went just as we rehearsed back at home,” Silva said in his post-fight interview. “We knew exactly what was going to happen, the way that he was going to charge, the position that he was going to have and the way we were going to finish it.”

The submission was Silva’s second consecutive main-event appearance in the UFC, and his coaches had specifically drilled the sequence that ended the contest. Silva says his team identified every threat Delgado posed and plotted the path to victory well before the pair stepped into the octagon.

With the win secured, Silva wasted no time stating his ambitions. He is eyeing the featherweight title and has set his sights on the winner of Alexander Volkanovski versus Movsar Evloev, the bout scheduled for UFC 333. The victory strengthens his case as a legitimate contender in a division that is about to crown a new champion or confirm its incumbent.