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A pair of flyweights entering on six-fight winning streaks faced off in the middle of this week’s five-fight card as 32-year-old Jacob Silva took on Kansas City-based prospect Jeffrey Molina.
Molina declined a touch of gloves out of the gate, opting instead to kick Silva’s lead leg out from under him right away. Silva caught a subsequent kick and dumped Molina to the ground, but had no interest in messing with him on the canvas. Back on the feet, Molina took control along the fence, dominating the clinch position, but failing to secure the takedown.
Silva again dumped Molina to the ground off a kick, but he popped back up right away and caught Silva with a right hand as he rushed forward to close the distance. Back in space after a brief clinch battle along the fence, Molina continued to pick at Silva from range as the veteran looked to catch his breath. Right before the horn, Molina sat Silva down with a retreating right hook, setting up an interesting second round.
Molina started the middle stanza attacking the body and the legs, scoring early and attempting to draw out fire from Silva in hopes of finding another opportunity to counter. The kicks and Molina’s constant activity, feinting and firing, made Silva hesitant, leading to a reduced output from the 32-year-old through the first half of the frame. As he started to press forward and offer more, Molina continued to rip at the lead leg and land the cleaner punches.
With a minute left in the round, Silva started letting go a little more, landing a couple quality shots before getting blasted with a head kick along the fence. He ate it like it was nothing, but it left him with a cut on his cheek and pressed into the cage, dealing with an increasingly confident Molina through to the horn.
Both men came out more aggressive and active to begin the third, trading shots in the center of the cage, with Molina quickly opening the cut on Silva’s cheek up even more, prompting the crimson to flow. The 32-year-old continued firing off punches, but it only seemed to excite Molina, who responded in kind and appeared happy to continue slinging hands.
Just ahead of the two-minute mark, Molina connected with the same no-show knee that his coach James Krause used to floor Warlley Alves, but once again, Silva ate it like a snack and continued to press forward, landing a series of jabs that left the Glory MMA and Fitness product with a bloody nose. Silva closed out the round pushing the pace and bringing the fight to Molina, but it was too little, too late as the 23-year-old earned the unanimous decision victory and extended his winning streak to seven.
Official Result: Jeffrey Molina def. Jacob Silva by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)