Scouting Report: Mayra Bueno Silva

Mayra Bueno Silva

Born: Aug. 22, 1991 (Age: 31) in Uberlandia, Brazil
Division: Women’s Bantamweight
Height: 5’6”
Reach: 66.5”
Record: 10-2-1 (5-2-1 UFC)
Association: American Top Team
Stage of Career: Prime

Summary: Bueno Silva has some excellent abilities, though she appears to lack certain skills to make her an elite contender. She has outstanding submissions, both in quality and variety, as she can attack with armbars and kneebars from her back and techniques like ninja chokes in the clinch. However, she lacks the wrestling necessary to get an opponent down and can be taken down herself. Once on the ground, Bueno Silva has proven vulnerable to ground-and-pound when she fails to fire off submission attempts or get back to her feet. She throws strong knee and elbow strikes in the clinch but keeps her feet to close together in tight spaces—a flaw that makes her easy to take down. Bueno Silva features solid kicks to all parts of the body and a stout right cross, but her left-handed punches are largely useless. While she has shown a sturdy chin, her cardio can best be described as average.

STRIKING

• Stance: Orthodox.
• Hand Speed: Average.
• Jab: Rarely throws it, and it is weak when she does.
• Cross: Fairly fast and straight, with some impact to it. She has a slight hitch due to the elbow being a bit high, which can occasionally make the punch sloppy and more of an overhanded slap.
• Left Hook: A powerless, poor attempt at a punch.
• Overhand Right: Rarely uses it.
• Uppercuts: Never throws them.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Throws one strike at a time, outside of a few short combos.
• Favorite Combination(s): The one-two, though the jab can be completely ignored.
• Leg Kicks: Thrown with sound technique and carry solid impact.
• Body Kicks: Similar properties to those she directs to the legs. Some aspects of her front kick work in her favor, though it can be telegraphed.
• Head Kicks: Fast and sudden. They could be truly special if they offered more power.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

Bueno Silva’s main strengths in the standup revolve around her kicks. She can throw them at any target effectively with solid technique and impact. Bueno Silva relies on a basic boxing game. She has a serviceable right cross at her disposal, but her left hand is almost completely useless and she lacks a number of other punches. Bueno Silva can sneak in a well-timed knee when opponents dip. Defensively, she struggles with kicks, often just standing there and absorbing them.

CLINCH

• Physical Strength: Decent.
• Technique: Mediocre. She tends to keep her legs too close together, which results in her being taken down frequently.
• Knees: Hard, effective shots.
• Elbows: Knows how to use them, either standing or to the side of the head of an opponent grinding for a takedown.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Holds up most of the time, but the Manon Fiorot fight showed she can be hit with them.

Bueno Silva flashes some nice offense in the clinch, especially with knees and elbows. However, the fact that she can be taken down easily limits her effectiveness in close quarters.

GRAPPLING

• Wrestling from a Shot: Almost non-existent at her current level.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Almost non-existent at her current level.
• Takedown Defense: Below average. She has been vulnerable to takedowns in the clinch and at range, as she can be slow to react to them and struggles to overcome some technical flaws.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Bueno Silva can wall walk and utilizes sweeps, even against good grapplers.
• Submissions: Likely her strongest weapon. She can call upon a variety of techniques, and she is strong, fast and technical with them. She likes to attack with armbars and kneebars from her back, and she has executed a ninja choke in the clinch before.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: While she can sweep and submit opponents, she has also proven to be exceptionally vulnerable to ground-and-pound, doing absolutely nothing to stop it. She often resorts to ineffectually grabbing the wrist and tries to bring an opponent close, at which point she becomes susceptible to elbows.
• Top Control: Limited.
• Ground-and-Pound: While she postures all the way up and opens avenues of escape for the opposition, she throws a stellar straight right that is fast and powerful. However, she does little to hide it and fails to back it up with anything else.

Bueno Silva is an outstanding Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner with a variety of submission maneuvers available to her. However, she is hamstrung by a lack of wrestling. Because she cannot take opponents down, she must rely on clinches and scrambles, or an unwise opponent who is willing to engage her on the ground. Bueno Silva also must overcome below average takedown defense, and while she can often get back to her feet or attack with submissions, she has proven vulnerable to ground-and-pound.

INTANGIBLES

• Athleticism/General Physical Strength: Fair.
• Cardio: Average. She has gotten winded in the second round of fights before and often slows down in the third.
• Chin: Durable, as evidenced by the fact that she handled some hard shots from Fiorot.
• Recuperative Powers: They have held up to scrutiny thus far.
• Intelligence: Bueno Silva does not make bad decisions, but she also has not shown much improvement in certain areas—a fact that limits her upside.