Diego Lopes viciously ended the Jean Silva hype train earlier tonight (Sat., Sept. 13, 2025) LIVE on ESPN+ from inside Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Tex., stopping the Fighting Nerds standout with a bloody spinning elbow knockout in the second round.
Despite this being a standard Fight Night event, the headlining act between Lopes and Silva still felt like a pay-per-view (PPV) main event. That’s due in part to Lopes’ popularity (especially among Mexican fans) and Silva’s five-fight finish streak since entering the promotion back in early 2024. In other words, fight fans were expecting one of the very best five-round wars of 2025 to help celebrate Mexican Independence Day.
Lopes relied on some early calf kicks to keep Silva at range. Out of nowhere, Lopes secured a huge takedown and ended up transitioning to full mount. Lopes remained in top control and landed some crisp elbows to cut Silva on the top of his head. The crowd was going bonkers. Silva kept fighting and eventually wiggled free to return to his feet and land a wicked front kick. It was already chaos at its finest.
Silva starting to find his range early into the second round with some popping right hands and work to the body. Lopes returned fire, though, landing some clean shots out of the clinch and whipping leg kicks. The momentum changed again as Silva unloaded a collection of combinations and spinning attacks that clipped Lopes clean, but the former title challenger proved his chin is as good as it gets. Lopes went back to his grappling and scored two takedowns to keep Silva guessing.
The two featherweights unleashed all hell in the final moments of the second round and Lopes ended up catching Silva with a massive spinning elbow. Silva was barely hanging on as blood started to gush from his head. Lopes rushed in for heavy ground-and-pound and forced the referee’s hand. It was easily one of the best fights of 2025 thus far.
After the fight, Silva was not happy with the stoppage and took a cheap shot at Lopes. Luckily, security was there to stop any post-fight brawl from breaking out.
Check out the video highlights below:
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