Overview

• The featherweight headliner is set for Saturday, Sept. 13 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, pairing former title challenger Diego Lopes with undefeated UFC finisher Jean Silva.
• Betting markets list Silva around -260 to -280 with Lopes near +220, and staff picks from multiple outlets plus ESPN analysts largely lean toward Silva.
• Fight-week tensions featured a near hotel confrontation broken up by UFC security and a declined Silva wager that Lopes would not land a single takedown.
• Lopes says lessons from his April decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski leave him confident of a stoppage, while Silva predicts another finish and speaks with unabashed certainty.
• Coverage frames the winner as the next major contender at 145 pounds, as Silva’s side narratives—from a planned UFC Performance Institute wedding to barbs at Paulo Costa—add promotional heat.