A bloodied bantamweight fighter choked his opponent unconscious in the 3rd UFC 271 bout of the evening

• Douglas Silva de Andrade is a warrior.
• Dripping in blood, the veteran fighter was on the receiving end of a shellacking.

Douglas Silva de Andrade was a bloody mess throughout his bantamweight match Saturday against Sergey Morozov.

The veteran Brazilian fighter competed in the third of 14 bouts at UFC 271, a pay-per-view show broadcast on ESPN from the Toyota Center in Houston.

Morozov threw combinations of punches that landed so cleanly Silva got cut early in the opening round.

Silva had bad intentions of his own, but even in the second round, Morozov looked like any strike Silva hit him with only fueled his fury.

But Silva — a rare breed of human — never seemed to be concerned about the blood that poured from his wounds. He fought like he was accustomed to the iron taste of his own blood.

This was a guy who would walk through hell with gasoline boots, such was his desire to fight fire with fire.

In Texas, it was Silva's fire that burned brightest as he smoked Morozov midway through the bout.

Silva had Morozov on the floor from his heavy hands, but the tough Kazakh scrambled to his feet, only to end up on the ground again moments later.

He wasn't to get up again.

Silva knee'd him, elbowed him, and sought a rear-naked choke finish after taking his back. It was tight, but Morozov — too tough for his own good — didn't tap.

And so Silva, who had been wearing a mask of blood through much of the contest, got a finish so emphatic it could likely earn him a performance-related bonus check.

Morozov, his eyes rolling into the back of his head, had been choked unconscious.

Watch the fight-ending submission right here:

Silva's performance impressed UFC elite, as the former lightweight contender Justin Gaethje said the 36-year-old "may have just been violently thrusted into my top 10 fighters to keep an eye on."

"What a comeback," he posted on Twitter.

Victory advanced Silva's pro MMA record to 28 wins (20 knockouts, two submissions, and six decisions) against four losses.

Earlier on the preliminary section of the show, Jeremiah Wells beat Mike Mathetha by rear-naked choke in the first round, and Maxim Grishin out-pointed William Knight with three scores of 30-27.

Jacob Malkoun also out-pointed A.J. Dobson by a margin of three 29-28 scores.