Noche UFC preview: Silva, McMillen set to bring fireworks

If you like knockouts, then Saturday's Noche UFC could make for an ideal card.

The Octagon heads to Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz., marking the fourth year in a row that the UFC has held the Noche event, honouring Mexican heritage in combat sports.

Let’s take a look at the most important bouts on the 13-fight card:

Jean Silva eyeing featherweight title shot in main event

The headliner is a five-round featherweight bout between Brazilian Jean Silva and Arizonan Jose Delgado, who is filling in on short notice for the injured Yair Rodriguez.

Silva is one of the best featherweights in the UFC, a big star for the promotion at 6-1 with five finishes. His lone loss in the Octagon came at last year’s Noche UFC card, when Diego Lopes knocked him out in an absolute barnburner of a fight.

Delgado sits 4-1 and enters his first UFC main event on a two-fight win streak. His late add to the card could be an opportunity of a lifetime as he gets to headline a card in his home state.

Should Silva win, he could be next in line for a UFC featherweight title shot, while an upset win for Delgado would put him in the elite at 145 pounds. One thing’s for sure, though: it won’t be boring.

Ex-flyweight champion looking to snap skid

Former flyweight champ Brandon Moreno will look to bounce back from a two-fight losing streak when he takes on “The Ultimate Fighter” winner Joseph Morales in the co-main event.

Moreno is a future UFC Hall of Famer, but he's had a tough run lately, dropping four of his last six fights. Still, the question remains: is Moreno truly on a decline, or is he just fighting some of the best flyweights in the world?

We’ll find out against Morales, who is 2-0 in his second stint in the UFC and who won TUF Season 33 last year. Morales was 1-2 in the UFC in 2017-18 and got cut, but after seven years of working his way back to the top, he's proven he deserves this big opportunity.

A win for Moreno will show he is still one of the best flyweights in the world, but a loss to Morales could leave Moreno relegated to gatekeeper status for the rest of his UFC career.

Rising star Tommy McMillen returns

One of the UFC’s rising young stars, Tommy McMillen, returns to the Octagon when he takes on Marwan Rahiki in the featured bout that could very well be Fight of the Night.

McMillen, a training partner of former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, is 2-0 inside the Octagon with knockout wins over Manolo Zecchini and Alberto Montes, winning bonuses for his performances in both of those fights to show he’s a top young talent in MMA.

The fight against Montes, in particular, was incredibly impressive, as McMillen landed 252 significant strikes, breaking the UFC record for a three-round bout.

Rahiki is a dangerous knockout artist who is himself 2-0 in the UFC with two knockout wins, but his lack of defence could spell disaster for him against someone with the power of McMillen.

This should be an incredible fight for as long as it lasts, with the winner becoming someone whom the UFC will surely push as the next big thing in the featherweight division.

Fiorot, Grasso duke it out for potential flyweight title shot

France's Manon Fiorot, who is training at Tristar Gym in Montreal, has an 8-1 record in the UFC, with her lone loss coming against former flyweight division champion Valentina Shevchenko in May 2025 at UFC 315 in her training city.

Mexico's Alexa Grasso, meanwhile, is coming off a brutal knockout win over Maycee Barber at UFC Seattle that snapped her three-fight winless skid and showed she’s still a top contender at 125 pounds.

With Shevchenko recently vacating her belt, leaving Natalia Silva and Wang Cong to fight for the vacant title at UFC 332, the winner of Fiorot vs. Grasso figures to be next in line for a flyweight title shot.

Heavyweight slugfest between Cortes Acosta, Blaydes

A heavyweight showdown is on tap between Waldo Cortes Acosta and Curtis Blaydes, who is coming off a “Fight of the Year” candidate against Josh Hokit at UFC 327.

Cortes Acosta lost a decision to Alexander Volkov in his last outing that snapped a three-fight win streak, but the Dominican Republic native remains one of the top heavyweights at 10-3 overall in the Octagon with five wins coming by knockout.

As for Blaydes, he is making his comeback after an epic war against Hokit that many fans consider the best fight of the year. A long-time heavyweight contender, Blaydes is looking to bounce back from that defeat and show that he’s still an elite fighter at 265 pounds.

The winner will remain in title contention, while the loser will essentially become a gatekeeper.

Mexican hero kicks off main card

In the opening main-card bout, Mexico's David Martinez looks to make it 4-0 in the UFC when he fights veteran Dan Ige, who is making his debut at bantamweight.

Martinez is coming off a career-best win over Marlon Vera in his last fight. He was originally booked to fight Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC Abu Dhabi in July, but the UFC broke that fight up and booked Nurmagomedov against Song Yadong, putting Martinez against Ige instead.

Martinez, who is 14-1 in his MMA career, is one of the top Mexican fighters in the UFC, and he welcomes 21-fight Octagon veteran Ige down to the bantamweight division.

Ige has really struggled as of late, coming into this bout on a two-fight losing skid and having lost four of his last five overall. Given that, he's making a big career decision to cut down to 135 pounds, but he gets a massive opportunity here to take out Martinez.

Given his strong form inside the Octagon so far, the Mexican is the clear favourite to win this fight. If he comes through, look for him to get a top-10-ranked opponent next time.