San Diego, CA — A lot of people have been asking UFC middleweight Bruno Silva about the upcoming Israel Adesanya-Alex Pereira title fight. Enough so that he feels connected to the fight, given his history with Pereira.
Silva (22-7), a.k.a. “Blindado,” lost a decision to Pereira back in March, making him the only fighter to go the distance with Pereira in MMA. During Wednesday’s UFC San Diego media day, Silva was asked for his prediction in the fight.
“I do see right now that Alex is the favorite,” Silva suggested. “But if Adesanya fights the way he fought maybe two years ago, two years back, I would see him winning the fight. But I don’t think that that’s the person that he’s bringing right now. I do see Alex being the favorite for this one.”
Asked if Adesanya needs to be more aggressive and offensively minded, Silva countered that the middleweight champion “needs to stop fighting boring. He’s putting me to sleep with what he’s been doing lately. I mean this is a guy that has so much baggage coming into MMA. We know what he’s capable of, so much experience.”
Of course, Pereira also has all kinds of experience as well, Silva continued. “Alex, everything that Alex comes with — these are two very experienced fighters,” Silva told Cageside Press. “The thing is, Adesanya, yes he has to fight aggressive, yes he has to be more offensive. I am not of a fan of his fighting style, regardless, but I do think that he needs to be a little less boring in order to win the fight. Like he fought two years ago.”
Of course, Silva has his own fight to worry about. Against one of the few fighters in the division more experienced than himself. While Silva will hit 30 fights on Saturday, opponent Gerald Meerschaert will enter his 50th professional MMA fight that same night.
“Last time I fought somebody that actually had that kind of experience, I fought with a Russian that had like 50 fights. So that was something,” Silva exclaimed. “Now I get this guy here, that has all that many fights, but I always say that’s the type of fighter that I like to fight. I like to fight somebody that brings me some value, that brings something into the fight. So very happy to fight somebody that can offer something for me in the fight, that I can get something out of it.”
While the key to victory would seem to be on the feet, Silva noted that he’s also well-versed on the mat.
“I’m very dangerous standing up, man. And you know what, I’m a black belt in jiu-jitsu,” he stated. “So I just think that of course, there’s going to be a different amount, a different type of caution that I need to exercise in a fight like this, because he comes with a different skill set. But I fought with many people like him that were black belts, doing things on the ground. I lost to some, yes, but you know what? Some of them, I put them to sleep a little earlier than expected.”
Watch the full UFC San Diego media day scrum with Bruno Silva above. The event takes place this Saturday, August 13, 2022 at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.
