Atlanta, GA — On a night that saw several big finishes on the preliminary card, PFL 4 light heavyweight Josh Silveira may have had the biggest.
Silveira, who improved to 9-0 with a TKO stoppage of Marthin Hamlet, set up the finish care of a head kick — then threw everything and the kitchen sink at the Norwegian to seal the deal.
A dazzed Hamlet hung in for a while, eating a second head kick, knees, and punches before finally going down. Amazingly, Silveira had actually predicted the finish.
“I guess we kind of do speak things into existence once in a while,” Silveira said following the victory, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press.
The win was a big one for several reasons: the ATT fighter had been forced out of his season debut, and needed an early stoppage to have any hope of making the PFL’s post-season.
“I hurt myself in the last camp, so it was two camps in one. I was itching to get in there, man. I was itching,” he stated back stage at the Overtime Elite Arena. “They could have put anybody in front of me, to be honest. I love this, before I went out there I told my dad, I said ‘I really love this, because there’s nothing else I’d rather do and nowhere else I’d rather be right now.”
6 POINT FINISH!!!! @jmdasilv GOES STRAIGHT INTO THE TOP 4 OF THE LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT STANDINGS!#2022PFL4 LIVE on ESPN+
🌎 https://t.co/WfOt9XjEaK pic.twitter.com/Pm34lyZf0m— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 17, 2022
As for who he wants next, Silveira didn’t have a preference — mainly because he could be fighting some familiar faces in the tournament format.
“To be honest, I have teammates in here, so obviously I don’t want to run into them. But like I tell everybody, if we fight each other, that’s the easy part for us. We’re teammates, let’s make some money together, let’s go have some fun. Obviously — I don’t have an opinion, man. I’m here, I needed to get that quick six [points], hopefully that will push me into the playoffs, and let’s go make that million.”
Silveira was, when the dust settled, unfortunately left outside the playoffs looking in, one spot out of the post-season. But after the victory, he was definitely on a high.
“Bunch of emotions running through me right now. Obviously never get too high on the highs or too low on the lows. Try to stay in the middle. Right now I’m in the highs, it’s so hard to get back in the lows right now. But after I digest this, we’ll move on from there. I’m embracing this moment right now, it’s nice.”
“I love how that played out. Seeing my dad’s face, it’s nice,” he added.
Playoffs or not, Silveira certainly made an impression in his debut season. And with his finish of the hulking Hamlet.
“He is a big boy, but you know, a fight’s a fight. When you get kicked in the head, you get kicked in the head, no matter how big you are,” observed Silveira. “I tip my hat off to him too, he came all the way from Norway and stuff. So thank you Marthin.”
Watch the full PFL 4 post-fight media appearance by Josh Silveira above.
