UFC Fight Night 40 Main Card Recap: Matt Brown Topples Erick Silva In An Instant Classic

UFC Fight Night 40 is now a thing of the past and what a event it turned out to be.

The event took place at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, featuring a welterweight contest in the main event between “The Immortal” Matt Brown against the upcoming Erick Silva and what a fight it turned out to be.

The Brazilian started the fight well, dropping Brown with a body kick before threatening with a rear naked choke but the Ohio native came back with a vengeance and almost stopped Silva after a heavy onslaught.

Somehow the second round managed to be just as exciting as the first with both men going to war early before “The Immortal” took things to the mat. On the floor he was able to land some nice ground and pound, while also attacking with submissions.

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The third round started out like the two before it, with the pair going to war. However, Brown mixed things up landing a takedown, from there he punished Silva with some hard shots to get the finish.

The co-main event turned out to be one of the best fights of the card, as middleweights Costas Philippou and Lorenz Larkin went to war for a couple of beautiful minutes inside the Octagon. Ultimately, Larkin was no match for the Cypriot who crushed the Strikeforce vet with a devastating left hook, right straight combination.

In the lightweight division, Daron Cruickshank put in the performance of his career finishing Erik Koch with a lethal high kick followed by a barrage of brutal elbows (a lot more than necessary). “The Detroit Superstar” now has two straight wins at 155 pounds both coming by way of knockout.

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The first welterweight contest of the main card turned out to be a gritty back-and-forth battle as Neil Magny managed to outpoint Tim Means to pick up the first consecutive win of his UFC career. Magny played it smart throughout, using his reach and takedowns to take the points win.

In other action, Australia’s Soa Palelei picked up his third straight win in the UFC with another vicious knockout stopping Ruan Potts in his Octagon debut. Palelei picked up another quick stoppage taking out the former EFC heavyweight champion in just over two minutes into the very first round.

Kicking off the main card was a flyweight battle between the “Kamikaze” Chris Cariaso and Hawaii’s Louis Smolka which turned out to be an exciting affair. Despite a hard-fought effort by Smolka in the third round, Cariaso was the best man on the night, using his lightning quick hands to tag his taller opponent while also threading with constant submission attempts to earn him a split-decision win.

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UFC Fight Night 40 Main Card Results:

Chris Cariaso def. Louis Smolka via split-decision

Soa Palelei def. Ruan Potts via knockout round 1

Neil Magny def. Tim Means via unanimous decision

Daron Cruickshank def. Erik Koch via knockout round 1

Costas Philippou def. Lorenz Larkin via knockout round 1

Matt Brown def. Erick Silva via TKO round 3

Photo: Kyle Terada for USA TODAY Sports