Starts in 18h 32m UFC Fight Night 288: Silva vs. Delgado takes place on Sunday (AEDT) at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, 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!
Jean Silva vs. Jose Delgado Prediction
Jean Silva has compiled a 6-1 record in the UFC and will be headlining Saturday’s Noche UFC 4 show against a late replacement in Jose Delgado, who steps in for the injured Yair Rodriguez on a little over two weeks notice.
The 29-year-old Silva’s only loss in the UFC actually came at last year’s Noche UFC event, where he was caught out by Diego Lopes’ 2nd round spinning back elbow, leading to his first ever TKO loss. He’s responded well though by defeating Arnold Allen back in January. Silva continues to be an exciting fighter to watch with a high-level striking game that makes the most of his speed and power by delivering his strikes with impressive timing and accuracy. Silva has fast reactions and a knack for reading his opponents intentions, which together with fast footwork enables him to glide out of harms way and land on the counter. However, while Silva is a crafty fighter he can get a bit wild and overconfident at times, which finally caught up with him against Lopes last year. 12 of his 17 wins have come via strikes, but Silva does also have three submission wins, including a ninja choke finish of Bryce Mitchell in early 2025. Silva prefers to keep the fighting standing though and will use counter strikes and the threat of submissions to help deter anyone attempting to take him down.
The 28-year-old Delgado is only a couple of months removed from his latest victory in the Octagon, a unanimous decision win over Austin Bachi that took his UFC record to 4-1. This new assignment is by far his toughest and most high-profile fight to date though, so while he is getting to fight on home soil in Arizona it’s unfortunate that he’s only had a couple of weeks to prepare for it. Delgado is a good-sized 145lb’er who will have a 4″ height and reach advantage over Silva. He adopts a high-volume striking approach from range with solid combinations of punches and kicks, together with effective knee strikes at closer quarters. Delgado’s ground game still has room for development, but he does have capable wrestling and has four submissions on his record, along with six wins via strikes.
Delgado is a solid fighter, but I believe Silva is on a different level with his dynamic striking ability and calculated counters, which will eventually lead him to find a finish by TKO in Rd2.
Jean Silva to win by TKO in Rd3
Brandon Moreno vs. Joseph Morales Prediction
Brandon Moreno comes in off back-to-back defeats to take the co-main event spot here against Joseph Morales, who is 2-0 since returning to the UFC.
Moreno suffered the first TKO loss of his career against Tatsuro Taira back in December of last year, then dropped a unanimous decision defeat to Lone’er Kavanagh in February. The 32-year-old former flyweight champion has been in nothing but hard fights for many years now and it feels like that might be wearing on him. He’ s still tough, but not quite as robust as he once was, and doesn’t seem to fight with the same energy and intensity from start to finish as he did in his prime. That being said, he remains a solid pressure boxer with a trusty jab who can comfortably pick his shots in the pocket. Moreno also has good offensive wrestling and a proven grappling game that’s delivered 11 of his 16 career finishes, although his last submission win was actually five years ago.
The also 32-year-old Morales went 1-2 in his first UFC run between 2017-2018, and then had a few years out of action. He returned on the regional scene in 2021 and won three fights before going back off the radar in 2023. His stop-start career then kicked back into life with a call-up to TUF 33 in 2025, which he would go on to win with a submission finish in the finale, before also submitting Matt Schnell to go 14-2 in his career. Grappling is certainly a strong suit for Delgado, who has now tapped out eight opponents, but his wrestling hasn’t proven as reliable to get the fight to the mat. However, Morales is also a willing striker with capable boxing, though he’s not the hardest hitter around and so only has a couple of TKO victories.
Moreno might not be at his best right now, but he’s still far from a pushover. The fact he’s never been submitted makes things tricky for Morales, who I think may also struggle to get him to the mat consistently. And meanwhile, on the feet I feel Moreno can get the better of the exchanges to emerge with a decision victory.
Brandon Moreno to win by decision
Tommy McMillen vs. Marwan Rahiki Prediction
Contender Series recruits Tommy McMillen and Marwan Rahiki have each won their two UFC fights so far, but only one of them will keep their unbeaten career records after Saturday night’s event.
The 28-year-old McMillen has his heart set on finishing every fight, and in 10 of his 11 victories so far he’s done just that. ‘Gun’ is a big 145lb’er at 6ft tall, though Rahiki is a good size too, so he’ll only have a couple of inches in height and reach over him here. McMillen is absolutely relentless with his high-volume pressure striking, and while the vast majority of his fights have ended in the first round, he’s proven to have strong cardio to keep pushing an intense pace late into his fights. He can be reckless defensively though, but so far has been able to rely on having a strong chin, and showed in his Contender Series fight that he has the heart and determination to battle back from adversity. McMillen isn’t just a striker as he’ll also look to work from the clinch and has a solid wrestling base, while half of his 10 finishes have been by submission.
The 24-year-old Rahiki is 9-0 in his career to date and has demonstrated his explosive striking in the UFC with two TKO victories so far. In fact, all 9 of his wins have come inside the distance, with all but one coming via strikes. He likes to unleash fast combinations of punches and kicks, and despite his finishing record he isn’t just a head-hunter as he will also work to the legs and body too. Like his opponent, Rahiki’s defense isn’t the best and he’s clearly been hurt at times, but has so far managed to find a way to win regardless. Meanwhile, though he does also have a submission win, his ground game is relatively untested against a respectable level of opposition.
This has the makings of a hard-hitting scrap between two exciting prospects, and given that they both carry power and are quite hittable it’s not certain who will emerge victorious. However, I do favor McMillen for his toughness and the crazy pace and offensive pressure he’s able to sustain from start to finish, so I’m taking him to find a 2nd round TKO finish.
Tommy McMillen to win by TKO in Rd2
Manon Fiorot vs. Alexa Grasso Prediction
Manon Fiorot comes off a 1st round TKO victory over Jasmine Jasudavicius to fight former flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, who KO’d Maycee Barber in less than a round too.
The 36-year-old Fiorot may only be a couple of inches taller than Grasso, but she’s naturally a considerably bigger flyweight and has been a physically imposing figure throughout her UFC run. She’s finished 7 of her 13 career victories via strikes, but doesn’t rely solely on that as she’s found a good balance between power and cardio that means her well-versed boxing and solid kicks are impactful from start to finish. Fiorot is durable and has never been finished in a fight, while she also has sturdy takedown defense and has been able to steer clear of trouble on the mat too.
The 33-year-old Grasso has had a very good run at flyweight despite initially appearing undersized when she moved up six years ago after an indifferent spell at strawweight. That form led to her memorable upset victory over Valentina Shevchenko to win the 125lb title back in 2023, but more recent back-to-back losses to ‘Bullet’ and Natalia Silva threatened to take the wind out of her sails. However, an impressive knockout finish against Barber back in March has put her right back into the spotlight. That was a bit of an anomaly though as Grasso actually hadn’t finished a fight via strikes for 12 years before that. She is a skilled striker though with fast, technical and accurate boxing ability, underpinned by quick footwork to get in and out of range. The well-conditioned Grasso also has a crafty ground game and is tenacious at working for submission attempts, but can still be taken down and controlled at times by good wrestlers.
Grasso’s speed and movement will be an asset here, but I think Fiorot’s physicality and power advantage will help her to keep the fight upright and land the more damaging strikes to secure a decision victory.
Manon Fiorot to win by decision
Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Curtis Blaydes Prediction
Waldo Cortes-Acosta’s three-fight winning streak was halted by Alexander Volkov back in May by unanimous decision. Now he takes on Curtis Blaydes, who has been alternating between wins and losses for his past six bouts.
The 34-year-old Cortes-Acosta has now gone 10-3 during his 4-year campaign in the Octagon. For much of that run he’s relied a lot on quite a stripped down set of skills, and in particular his solid boxing fundamentals and low kicks. He works off a steady jab and has respectable speed and footwork, together with good cardio and durability. That was enough to earn him a number of decision wins, but while he hasn’t necessarily added a whole lot to his game over the years, things did get more interesting last year when he started to sit down on his punches more and as a result began to consistently finish fights. However, last time out he came off second-best against a seasoned kickboxer in Volkov, who was able to get the better of him with strikes from range.
Blaydes has been in the UFC for over a decade now, and has often been on the verge of title contention, but has had a habit of falling at the last hurdle. Now 35-years-old, Blaydes seems to have moved into a new phase in his career where he’s struggling to put together a consistent run of wins and has slipped to No.11 in the heavyweight rankings. A big problem for him has been durability as five of his six UFC losses have been by strikes. With that in mind it was very surprising to see him abandon his usual cautious boxing from range and wrestle-heavy approach last time out against Josh Hokit, instead opting to slug it out toe-to-toe for three rounds back in April. Somehow he managed to avoid being KO’d on that occasion and won plaudits for the entertaining nature of the scrap, but it still seemed ill-advised given that both he and his opponent endured a ton of punishment, and he still ended up losing.
Blaydes would be wise to not make a habit of brawling and instead get back to his wrestling game against Cortes-Acosta instead. However, making those takedown entries without getting caught by big shots on the way has always been an issue for him, and so I can see WCA’s speed and power causing him problems, leading to a 2nd round KO defeat.
Waldo Cortes-Acosta to win by KO in Rd2
David Martinez vs. Dan Ige Prediction
David Martinez has won all three of his UFC fights so far and now opens the Noche UFC 4 main card against Dan Ige, who has lost four of his last five bouts.
The 28-year-old Martinez was already a three-time defending Combate champion prior to making his way to the UFC via the Contender Series. The UFC brass clearly believes in him as two of his three fights in the Octagon so far have been co-main events against challenging opponents in Rob Font and Marlon Vera, who he beat by unanimous decision. Martinez is a dynamic muay thai striker who delivers his punches and kicks with speed, has good knees and elbows, and has proven to have respectable accuracy when he unleashes more eye-catching techniques. While he’s picked up a few decision wins lately, Martinez has actually managed to stop 10 fights via strikes during his 14-1 career to date. He also proven to have good takedown defense so far, which means we’ve yet to see much of his ground game.
The 35-year-old Ige is coming off his first career loss via strikes, having been TKO’d by Melquizael Costa in the 1st round back in February. Ige’s overall form in the UFC has been very patchy for a number of years though, with only four wins in his last 10 fights. To be fair that could at least partly be put down to having consistently fought top-tier opposition, but it does highlight a trend where his wins tend to come when he’s not facing opponent of that calibre. Ige is a gritty veteran who is at his best when landing compact boxing combinations to the head and body at close quarters with respectable power. He also has a knack of being able to switch from striking to takedowns too, which gives his opponents something else to think about. It does feel like he might be at the stage of decline though, so it’ll be interesting to see how his durability holds up here.
Martinez is in his prime and seems to be operating at the kind of level that Ige has found challenging, so I’m taking him to win here, but I think the veteran Ige will manage to make it to the scorecards.
David Martinez to win by decision
UFC Fight Night 288: Silva vs. Delgado Prelims
(Predicted winners in bold)
Tim Elliott vs. Édgar Cháirez
Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Muslim Salikhov
Yousri Belgaroui vs. Djorden Santos
Drakkar Klose vs. Thomas Gantt
Rafa García vs. Rong Zhu
Sean King vs. Jessie Rosas
JJ Aldrich vs. Regina Tarin
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