Noche UFC preview and predictions: Can Jose Delgado actually upset Jean Silva?

Nairavoice | Sep 11, 2026 20h ago 299 0 8 min read

Noche UFC preview and predictions: Can Jose Delgado actually upset Jean Silva?

Another year, another Noche UFC, as the promotion’s annual Mexican Independence weekend tradition reaches its fourth iteration on Sept. 12 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Brazil’s Jean Silva becomes the first fighter to headline multiple Noche UFC events, and he does so in back-to-back appearances. Last year’s festivities didn’t go his way against Diego Lopes in San Antonio, but after Yair Rodriguez’s withdrawal, that leads Silva to a clash with Jose Miguel Delgado, in what will be the latter’s biggest fight of his career.

This year’s Noche UFC is a low-key banger of a Fight Night overall. It flew somewhat under the radar after the main-event shuffle, but make no mistake, this should be a fun day of action amid all the combat celebrations the weekend is set to deliver.

👑 Noche UFC’s lineup Crown grade: B. 👑

https%3A%2F%2Fd29szjachogqwa.cloudfront Noche UFC preview and predictions: Can Jose Delgado actually upset Jean Silva?

Jose Miguel Delgado is getting thrown right into the fire at featherweight.

Silva’s loss to Lopes really was a momentem-stopper. It feels like Silva’s activity took a significant dip after that loss, at least in MMA.

After beating Arnold Allen via unanimous decision in January, Silva has busied himself in 2026 with grappling matches against fellow UFC veterans Bryce Mitchell and Marlon “Chito” Vera. Those Hype FC side quests were hardly anything to write home about, but Silva remains a killer who’s surely chomping at the bit to make up for last year’s blunder.

Realistically, this fight is Silva’s to lose, as he’s had proper preparation time and is a significantly more established contender than his late-switch opponent. Delgado has put together a solid run so far in the UFC, going 4-1 with his lone loss splitting his wins. But the level of competition isn’t comparable. Regardless, Arizona native Delgado carries an unshakeable confidence and a hometown advantage on his side in this one.

With Silva, you already know the type of chaos you’re going to get — his strikes will land out of nowhere, and he just might find a submission after the damage is done. He should have beaten Lopes in their Noche UFC fight last year; Lopes simply out-dogged the dog and caught Silva amid a tornado of offense. Delgado’s best chance will have to come in a similar fashion. Silva is just a caged animal when that Octagon door closes.

Is Brandon Moreno falling off? Maybe.

Am I ready to count him out at Noche UFC? No.

It’s easy to forget Moreno has been fighting for 15 years, considering he’s just 32 and has already been a two-time UFC champion. I’ll never forget the eruption of the crowd for his upset win in his UFC debut when he submitted Louis Smolka a decade ago. It feels like a lifetime ago because it is. The former champion has suffered concerning losses to rising stars Tatsuro Taira and Lone’er Kavanagh in his past two appearances, so Joseph Morales feels like an appropriate “regroup yourself” matchup — or a potential changing of the guard.

Morales, on the other hand, won “The Ultimate Fighter 33” by scoring an impressive triangle choke over Alibi Idiris, then followed it up with a guillotine of Matt Schnell in his sophomore UFC outing. He’s proven to be a wicked dangerous submission threat, which isn’t something Moreno often faces, outside of his recent Taira loss.

It’s always dangerous to play with Moreno on the feet, especially in a back-against-the-wall position. But Morales can find success, especially with Moreno’s defense fading over the years. Ultimately, this fight just feels like too big of a step up for Morales after only two wins in the UFC.

Talk about a pretty wild battle of undefeated prospects.

Tommy McMillen and Marwan Rahiki have both put together stellar careers thus far in their early runs. Between their 20 combined fights, the only decision win belongs to McMillen, in his Contender Series victory over David Mgoyan a year ago. This has Fight of the Night written all over it.

Now, admittedly, Rahiki received an absurd layup in his most recent UFC appearance against Ollie Schmid. But he delivered and finished Schmid impressively in Round 1, as he was set up to do. Compare that to McMillen’s latest win over Alberto Montes, and, well, you can’t compare it that much, because McMillen’s last win was one of the best performances of the year, and that’s going to stick with most people, as it should.

The fight essentially comes down to McMillen’s suffocating volume versus Rahiki’s speed. Drowning people in punches is just a different kind of ability to possess, and for that, I’m on the McMillen train in this one.

Alexa Grasso is looking to regain momentum after delivering an all-time finish in her last time out.

Right alongside McMillen for the best performances of the year is former flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, who did terrible, terrible things to Maycee Bar ber in the pair’s rematch last February in Seattle.

What a horrific sight that was. Being cageside, the concern in that arena was as dense as fog. Barber didn’t move for a long time, but thankfully she wound up being alright.

As incredible as it was — and as sharply as Grasso performed — at this current moment, that finish was a complete anomaly. That’s not to say Grasso doesn’t have a killer’s instinct deep within her, because we saw it in her title-winning finish of Valentina Shevchenko back in 2023. It’s just that Grasso is an opportunistic killer, possessing only those two stoppages in her entire UFC career. There’s no forcing the finish with Grasso, but if it’s presented and she knows she has it, then, boy, does she have it.

That’s where Manon Fiorot comes in. You rarely see many mistakes get made by France’s finest, as she’s only lost to Shevchenko since her MMA debut in 2016.

Fiorot also enters off a viciously impressive stoppage of the surging Jasmine Jasudavicius. She’ll have a comfortable size advantage against a former strawweight like Grasso and will act as a physically imposing force for most of her opponents.

This is a really intriguing fight that’s difficult to predict based on their recent performances. But looking more at the Grasso side of things, if she hasn’t sured up her grappling defense or figured out how to work with a bullying style, she could be in trouble. That’s if she can even get around the lengthy stick-and-move offense of Fiorot.

Alexander Volkov put a damper on Waldo Cortes-Acosta’s heavyweight climb, but it’s time to get back on track.

Curtis Blaydes seems to be finally fading out of the contender scene in the land of giants. His past five performances clearly displayed that. The once-feared wrestler has taken tons of damage over the years and somehow survived 15 minutes of his war with Josh Hokit, only to take even more. The guy gets hit and hurt far too much to be a reliable player in this division anymore.

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Cortes-Acosta can crack. And in a matchup like this, with youth and speed on his side, that’s probably going to be all he needs.

Dan Ige is doing that thing plenty of former contenders have done after falling down their divisional ladder: Reinvent themselves with a change in weight class.

That’s right, it’s down to bantamweight for “50K.”

This almost feels like a rude move by the UFC, as if they’re upset with Ige for dropping down another 10 pounds. Because David Martinez is on an absolute roll, winning 10 straight culminating in impressive showings against Rob Font and “Chito.”

I’ve never been overly impressed by Ige, even at his best. He’s always been a wildly tough and game competitor, but he’s lost to any real contender he’s come across. Martinez is younger, faster and has tons of upside. The youth and speed gap will be too much.

Regina Tarin has the potential to be Mexico’s next big UFC star.

Regina Tarin is here, folks. And at age 21, hailing from Mexico as an undefeated flyweight prospect on the rise, it truly feels like a second coming of Grasso. She’s more of a finisher thus far, with more size to her. Nonetheless, the parallels are evident, especially given their respective runs with Combate Global and Invicta FC. She’s one to watch and gets a good step up here in JJ Aldrich.

Yousri Belgaroui has become a notable potential future contender at middleweight. He wanted Israel Adesanya after his last win, but instead got an undercard spot against Djoerden Santos. At least we can expect another great highlight-reel finish.