UFC Vegas 22 video: Bruno Silva stops JP Buys, almost catches official with celebratory kick

Bruno Silva had a rough start to his UFC Vegas 22 opener with JP Buys, but his finish was highlight-reel worthy.

Silva dropped Buys three times before referee Mark Smith had seen enough and stepped in at the 2:56 mark of the second round. An overhand right was the thing that dropped Buys, who rolled out of the first one but couldn’t right himself in time after the second one in the middle frame.

Check out the finish:

Afterward, Silva celebrated outside the cage with an acrobatic flip that might have knocked out a cageside official were it not for some quick moving.

The fight didn’t open on such a jubilant note for Silva, who cup-checked Buys in the opening seconds of the bout. Seconds later, it was his outstretched fingers that caught Buys and brought a hard warning from Smith.

Eventually, Silva found his range and dropped Buys with a right hand at the end of the first round. Buys’ toughness wasn’t enough to overcome a deficit in defense, and Silva picked up his UFC win after a trio of losses, one of which was overturned because of a positive drug test. Contender Series vet Buys opens his octagon career on a sour note after a first-round submission punched his ticket to the octagon.