Daniel da Silva vs. Edgar Chairez Ends in No Contest Due to Referee Error at Noche UFC

Daniel da Silva and Edgar Chairez met in a flyweight clash on the prelim card at Noche UFC on Saturday night, but it ended in disappointment for both men.

Da Silva took Chairez down early and managed to get in some ground-and-pound. However, the Mexican scrambled up only to be driven to the fence by his opponent. During that scramble, Chairez attempted a guillotine, making da Silva let go of a single-leg takedown attempt as referee Chris Tognoni watched closely.

Just as the commentary booth expressed their concern about a potential error by the referee, Tognoni called a stop to the contest, seemingly assuming that da Silva had passed out from the choke. “Miojo” immediately protested the stoppage, which was overturned moments later to a no contest after Tognoni and the cageside replay official reviewed the video.

#NocheUFC Highlight Video: EdgarChairez vs. DanieldaSilva Stopped Prematurelyhttps://t.co/ZlLrNUIp87

— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) September 17, 2023

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight titleholder Dominick Cruz, who was calling the fight, openly criticized Tognoni for the mistake, pointing out his history of poor stoppages and holding him up as an example of the importance of referees having personal experience in grappling. The anticlimactic stoppage robbed both da Silva and Chairez of the opportunity to pick up their first UFC victory. While Lacerda had suffered four consecutive stoppage losses since his promotional debut in 2021, Chairez began his UFC journey with a decision loss against Tatsuro Taira at UFC 290 in July.