After battling back from injury, Claudio Silva wants the UFC to get behind him following his latest win, this time at UFC Newark.
Newark, NJ — Claudio Silva was once again in the winner’s circle Saturday at UFC Newark. The Brazilian welterweight, who missed nearly four years of competition with a string of injuries requiring surgery, made it 14 straight wins with a submission of Cole Williams in New Jersey. Five of those have come inside the UFC.
The fight was the second in on the preliminary card of the ESPN event. Perhaps because despite Silva’s impressive win streak, he’s been out of the public eye for a while. However, he’s now strung together two straight wins in 2019. Three in a row since his return. If he can maintain a steady pace, he can certainly make a run in the UFC’s welterweight division. Especially given he already holds a win over surging contender Leon Edwards.
Saturday’s scrap with Williams came at a catchweight, as the short-notice replacement missed weight by a full five pounds. But that didn’t take any shine off for Silva.
“I think it’s going to send me to the next level,” the Brazilian told reporters including Cageside Press post-fight. “I’ve been out for so many years, three and a half, and I just came back. And I have three submissions. So I think I deserve to be top ten.”
He credits his continued success to “training more smart. I came to Miami and I have such a great coach and gym behind me.”
“I think that’s what made the difference tonight.” Plus, his jiu-jitsu skills. The short notice change of opponents (Silva was originally supposed to fight Ramazan Emeev) didn’t even phase him. “I think my game is for everybody. BJJ is for everyone. And that’s what I delivered.”
Silva’s history, with wins over names like Leon Edwards and Danny Roberts, should instill confidence. But that’s not something he lacks anyway. “I always have confidence in myself. Not only because [Edwards] did well. I’m very happy for him, I’ve never trash-talked him or something like that. But I know I’m better than all these guys. I know it’s just a matter of time to be a champ.”
It’s just that, after four surgeries to his feet, he hasn’t been able to show much until recently. Compounding that, “when I was ready to come back, I injured my arm.” Silva compares the situation to being in prison. “It was painful, it was a tough time for me. It was like being in jail. That’s how I felt, being in a jail without bars.”
Yet while “I wasn’t in the cage physically,” he said, “my spirit was always there.”
Asked by Cageside Press how he balanced the urge to make up for lost time with not pushing himself too hard, Silva answered that “it was something crazy, you know. I don’t know how to answer that question. All I was thinking was about to come back. I’m the kind of guy that always trains 100%, I don’t really train slow.” However, he did find a benefit in the downtime. “That break gave me a lot of knowledge about training. Sometimes, when I feel my body so tired, and I go to train, before I was like ‘yes I have to go train, yes I’m this kind of guy.'” Silva, however, has trained his approach. Now, if he feels that way, he takes time to relax. “I’ll be ready to train next time.”
The ATT fighter also revealed Williams “came and apologized” after the fight for missing weight. “I’m not blaming anybody. I’m just so happy to fight. It was a 10 week camp, it was so hard training. If I didn’t fight, I’d go crazy. I respect him,” Silva added. “I wish him the best.”
Moving forward, what Silva wants now is a higher profile. “I want that the UFC promote me more,” he said. “I’m a Brazilian guy that speaks English. I know I can talk with everybody, I know I can speak, and entertain with the fans in English. And also because of my results. I want to be busy this year, I want to fight in December.”
First, however, Silva plans to spend some time with his family, who he has seen just twice this year. Then, it’s back to the grind.
For more from Claudio Silva, including his dreams of being a pilot (which have since been replaced with fighting), watch the full UFC Newark post-fight press scrum above!
