Presenting Ian McCall, an all-action flyweight you've probably never heard of. Jeff Sherwood for Sherdog.com

LEMOORE, Calif. -- The night before Nonito Donaire starched Fernando Montiel to seize the Mexican's two 118-pound titles in Las Vegas, mixed martial arts' top-ranked flyweight, Brazilian Jussier da Silva, competed amidst far less fanfare for, quite literally, one-hundredth of the boxer's purse.

Da Silva, a 25-year-old submission specialist who rose to No. 1 at 125 pounds after out-pointing Shooto world world champion Shinichi Kojima in a non-title affair in 2009, won his American debut in December against Danny Martinez. His second effort on Friday versus Ian McCall paid him $3,500 and occurred under similar circumstances.

Ian McCall, top, stomped all over Jussier da Silva, despite his aura and pundits' predictions on Friday. Jeff Sherwood for Sherdog.com

Martinez and McCall, a pair of WEC veterans, had campaigned at bantamweight, which unlike the 118-pound boxing limit is established at 135 pounds in MMA, prior to moving down to meet "Formiga."

As the unknown king of an unheralded weight division, da Silva approached his fight at the Tachi Palace, a central California hotel and casino located on tribal land that showcased the WEC before it was purchased by Zuffa, believing pundits were correct about his stature at 125 pounds. That, however, evaporated after three rounds against McCall, who survived a difficult opening period to take a unanimous decision.

Sitting with his trainer in the warm-up room afterward, da Silva, a slender 5-foot-5, quietly went about deconstructing the first defeat of his career (he thought he won), which will remove him from the top spot when MMA Websites and blogs release new rankings.

"I will work my way up the rankings again and try to be my best, as always," da Silva said.

Who deserves to be the top-ranked flyweight in MMA?

Should it be McCall, the man who beat the man? Or is it young Darrell Montague, who put on a perfect performance to capture the Tachi Palace Fights' flyweight title against Ulysses Gomez following da Silva's loss?