The 28-year-old worked his way back from some first-round trouble to close out what was eventually a convincing win, with da Silva's grappling causing early problems.
As he had in previous UFC appearances, the Brazilian looked to take the bout to the ground early and impose his grappling game on Riddell. It worked in the first round, as Riddell was constantly fighting to get back to his feet.
After surviving a guillotine choke attempt late in the first round, Riddell made the necessary adjustments to keep the fight at distance and get the better of the striking exchanges.
Riddell stung da Silva midway through the third round with a punch to the eye, but the Brazilian appealed to the referee that it was an eye poke and the referee gave him time to recover — despite vocal objections from Riddell's corner.
While he wasn't able to get the stoppage, Riddell closed out the final round in strong fashion to claim a unanimous decision win.
It was the best of a mixed bag for the Kiwis fighting before the main event, with Shane Young and Kai Kara-France both going down inside the distance.
Young was beaten by UFC newcomer Ludovit Klein, who weighed in 2.3kg above the 67.7kg featherweight limit, in the first round of their bout.
Klein, the first UFC athlete from Slovakia, stunned Young with a left high kick and followed it up with fast hands to get the finish.
Kara-France came out second best in a high-paced and action-packed fight against American Brandon Royval, who snatched a submission victory early in the second round.
Kara-France had some good moments on the feet, wobbling Royval early in the first round, but in the second, Royval applied plenty of pressure on the feet and was showing Kara-France's power no respect.
Kara-France responded by attempting a takedown, which gave Royval an opening to wrap up a tight guillotine choke and finish the fight.
While not walking away with the win, Kara-France was awarded a US$50,000 Fight of the Night bonus.
