Danny Silva vs. Dennis Buzukja is our prediction for UFC Vegas 96 Fight of the Night

The world MMA leader is back after a successful weekend in Perth, Australia with UFC 305 officially in the books. The UFC returns home to Las Vegas for UFC Vegas 96 which has the potential to be one of the better UFC APEX fight cards of the year.

The main event features No. 5 ranked middleweight Jared Cannonier taking on the up-and-coming No. 12 ranked Caio Borralho. Additionally, earlier on the fight card, Angela Hill and Tabatha Ricci will meet in a top-15 strawweight showdown.

The card also features several Octagon veterans like Neil Magny, Gerald Meerschaert, Edmen Shahbazyan, and rising contenders such as Michael Morales, however, none of these aforementioned fighters will be featured in our Fight of the Night prediction. We think the matchup between Danny Silva and Dennis Buzukja at 145 pounds will be the fight that earns the Fight of the Night distinction at UFC Vegas 96.

Silva and Buzukja are two featherweight contenders with future top-15 potential and while many may be unfamiliar with their individual track records so far, there are several reasons to look out for this matchup at UFC Vegas 96.

Looking firstly at the career of Silva, who is 27 years of age and currently 9-1 professionally. His 2023 decision victory on Dana White's Contender Series in September 2023 was enough to earn a contract into the UFC where he has since fought one time.

Danny Silva VS. Dennis Buzukja take place at 145 pounds at UFC Vegas 96

In his only fight on Dana White's Contender Series, Silva landed over 200 total strikes while also absorbing over 200 total strikes. In what was a great fight that earned the respect of everyone in attendance at the UFC APEX and everyone watching around the world, Silva showed his ability to produce absolutely incredible action. The fight was so memorable that Paul Felder, who was part of the commentary team for the event, even compared the fight to a Rocky movie.

His official promotional debut was against Joshua Culibao, a tough first test in the UFC for any opponent, and Silva was able to earn a split decision victory. While his only two fights in the UFC have resulted in decisions, Silva has shown strong finishing ability early in his career.

Of his nine career victories, five have come by knockout and will surely be looking to add another at UFC Vegas 96. Including his win on Dana White's Contender Series, Silva is averaging 8.30 significant strikes landed per minute while absorbing 9.47 significant strikes per minute. Though this is only through his two fights under the UFC banner, this pace cannot be overlooked when predicting the fight of the night.

On the other side of the matchup is Buzukja, who is also in the midst of his prime at 26 years of age and 12-4 as a professional. Buzukja is slightly more experienced than Silva as he has competed three times in the UFC and two more additional times on Dana White's Contender Series, going 1-1.

As a member of the official UFC roster, Buzukja is 1-2, but is coming off of a knockout victory from March 2024 against Connor Matthews. Buzukja has a slightly lower finishing percentage than Silva with just half of his career victories being a knockout or submission. However, he has four first round finishes in his career compared to just one for Silva.

For the most part, Buzukja will be looking to keep the fight standing up as he averages just 0.80 takedowns per 15 minutes throughout his UFC career. Silva is much more likely to look to take the fight to the cage or the ground with his 3.00 takedowns per 15 minutes but Buzukja's 73 percent takedown defence should be enough to stop some potential early attempts.

In Buzukja's most recent win over Matthews, he displayed a variety of creative striking that fight fans all around the world appreciate. He was able to mix up strikes to the head, body, and legs effectively which ultimately resulted in a third round left hook that dropped Matthews followed up by some ground and pound to end the fight.

Some may be worried that if Silva can close the distance on Buzukja, he will be able to take control and eventually take the fight to the ground. However, Buzukja showed great scrambling ability against Matthews, especially in the second round, where he was able to avoid a couple of takedown attempts.

Overall, the matchup between Silva and Buzukja has all the potential to be 15 minutes of back-and-forth action. While Silva could have an advantage in the grappling aspects of the fight, Buzukja has proven his ability to keep the fight in the middle of the Octagon.

If Silva performs similarly to his Dana White's Contender Series appearance from September 2023, his fight against Buzukja will not only be the fight of the night at UFC Vegas 96, but one of the best fights of 2024.