Mayra Bueno Silva came up short in her attempt to claim the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 297, and according to her, an ear injury sustained during the fight affected her performance.
Silva had a good first round, and even threatened Pennington with a rear-naked choke, but told MMA Fighting that she couldn’t keep up that pace after suffering the injury early in the second round.
“I had a minor ear injury, but aside from that, I feel great and ready to come back,” Silva said. “Raquel hit me hard in the ear and partially tore my eardrum and I kind of lost balance. But it’s part of the game.”
“Sheetara” suffered her first UFC loss as a bantamweight at UFC 297 since moving up from flyweight in 2022, and laments not being able to do “anything we planned for this fight.”
“I couldn’t read the fight and know what was happening after the strike [that caused the injury],” Silva said. “Kudos to her for landing a good strike that took me out of the fight.
“I’m still licking my wounds and had no time to analyze the fight and know what went wrong yet. We’re still kind of on a hangover.”
The Brazilian will visit a specialist to determine a timeline for her return to training, she said, and picks Pennington to successfully defend the belt against Julianna Peña next. As for her next bout, Silva has a few names in mind for potential opponents if the timing works out.
“There are two athletes that don’t have a fight booked, and I think would make sense for me,” Silva said. “First, Irene Aldana. I think that’s a fight we could do, but first I need to wait and see what the doctor sees. I don’t want to stay out too long, I want to come back soon.
“I also thought about Miesha [Tate], but let’s see what the UFC has to offer. Maybe Miesha would be a good name.”
The UFC women’s bantamweight division received a nice addition on Tuesday with the signing of two-time PFL lightweight champion Kayla Harrison, who will cut all the way down to 135 pounds to face Holly Holm in her promotional debut at UFC 300 on April 13.
“I think she will do great,” Silva said of Harrison, a teammate at Florida’s American Top Team. “She’s very professional and would never enter a challenge if she knew she couldn’t fulfill it, so I think she will do great [at bantamweight].”
Silva, who trains with Harrison and submitted Holm in the octagon, picks the former PFL star to knock out “The Preacher’s Daughter” in Las Vegas and enter title contention next.
“We have competition in our backyard now,” Silva said with a laugh. “But it’s all good. Kayla is a sweetheart. This is work and she’s chasing her dream just like I am, so no problem whatsoever.”
