UFC 253: Brad Riddell demands top 15 opponent after win over Alex da Silva

Brad Riddell has marked his opportunity.

After another impressive performance within the UFC Octagon that saw him beat Brazilian Alex da Silva, the rising Kiwi lightweight had a message for the rest of the division.

“I deserve [a top 15 opponent]”Riddell said.” The guys I’ve been fighting have many, many more years of MMA experience than I have and could easily handle someone in the top 10 or top 15, and I beat them, so I deserve that place.

“I’ll go home, use the Google machine, get a name, start yelling at them, and then I’ll go beat them.”

Riddell is now 3-0 in his UFC career, and all wins come on the judges’ scorecards.

The 28-year-old worked his way to bounce back from some first-round problems to close out what was ultimately a convincing victory, with Da Silva’s attack causing problems early on.

As he had done in previous UFC appearances, the Brazilian sought to bring the fight to the ground early and impose his grappling game on Riddell. It worked in the first round as Riddell constantly struggled to get back on his feet.

After surviving a guillotine choke attempt late in the first round, Riddell made the necessary adjustments to keep the fight at arm’s length and get the best out of punching exchanges.

Riddell stung Da Silva midway through the third round with a punch to the eye, but the Brazilian appealed to the referee that it was a picket to the eye and the referee gave him time to recover, despite vocal objections from the corner of Riddell.

Although he was unable to obtain the stoppage, Riddell closed the final round in a forceful fashion to claim a unanimous decision victory.

It was the best of a mixed bag for the Kiwis fighting before the main event, with Shane Young and Kai Kara-France both falling within the distance.

Young was defeated by UFC newcomer Ludovit Klein, who weighed 2.3kg over the 67.7kg featherweight limit, in the first round of their fight.

Klein, the first UFC athlete from Slovakia, stunned Young with a high left kick and followed it with quick hands to reach the end.

Kara-France came in second in a fast-paced, action-packed fight against American Brandon Royval, who posted a submission win early in the second round.

Kara-France had some good moments on their feet, Royval wobbling early in the first round, but in the second, Royval applied a lot of pressure to his feet and showed no respect for the power of Kara-France.

Kara-France responded by attempting a takedown, which gave Royval an opportunity to wrap a tight guillotine choke and end the fight.

Although they did not win, Kara-France received a $ 50,000 bonus from Fight of the Night.