LAS VEGAS – Karine Silva’s UFC debut couldn’t have been a better day at the office for the 28-year-old flyweight.
The Dana White’s Contender Series veteran kept her 100 percent finish rate alive by submitting Poliana Botelho on the main card of UFC Fight Night 207 at the UFC Apex. It was a near-flawless performance for Silva (15-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to the UFC stage.
“I’m really happy,” Silva said through an interpreter at the post-fight news conference. “Everything that I trained for happened in the fight, so I’m really glad everything worked out. … I’m out of words to describe how special it is to be here now.”
Silva’s D’Arce choke submission of Botelho (8-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC) came with just five seconds remaining in the opening round, notching the first win of her UFC career. It was a finish so impressive, the UFC bosses decided to award her with a Performance of the Night bonus.
“I want to watch the fight first before I give you feedback, but I followed my strategy,” Silva said. “When I dropped her and I got on top of her, I knew I was gonna finish it. … I was really well prepared by my team and the gameplan was if we were standing up, I was going to find the distance and try to knock her out. If the fight went to the ground I knew I had a better ground game to finish her.”
As for what’s next, Silva wants to analyze what she did in this fight and keep improving before thinking about the next potential opponent.
“I don’t have anyone in mind right now,” Silva said. “I just want to go back to Brazil, sit down with my team and look at the mistakes and the things that we did well, and then come up with something else, but I’ll be ready.
