Las Vegas, NV — Josh Silveira came away from PFL 2 on Friday with six points and a first-round finish, though the night did not end exactly as planned.
Silveira (13-2) welcomed former welterweight champ Sadibou Sy to the light heavyweight division in the bout (the PFL does not feature a 185lb weight class). “He’s definitely not a 170lb’er, I noticed it right away,” the American Top Team standout said following the bout, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press.
“For a second I thought I was going to go play his game with him, that little pitter-patter thing that he does.” Silveira, however, added that “the word of this camp was attitude.” So when he heard his coaches say “attitude,” Silveira told himself that “I’ll eat a knee, I’ll eat a front kick going in there, but once I get to those legs, they’re mine.”
Silveira didn’t eat a knee or a front kick to land the takedown. And when he did land it, the fight was over awfully quick, after Sy quickly began calling for the ref, signaling an injury.
From his perspective, Silveira knew something was wrong. And it’s not the first time he’s seen an opponent injured off a takedown.
“All his fights, all the takedowns people attempt on him are head inside. So it was a big focus, head outside. He even came out orthodox, I thought he was going to come out southpaw,” recalled Silveira. “I got him to the cage, got him to the outside and did a good old— in the wrestling world it probably wouldn’t have been the greatest takedown, but this is MMA.”
“I think he posted with his thumb awkwardly. I don’t know, it’s the second time this has happened to me with an opponent with the takedown, I don’t know if my takedowns are just cool like that, but I’ll take it,” continued Silveira. “A win is a win. Obviously I hope he recovers well. His thumb was kind of out of play, it was crooked for sure. Prayers to him and a speedy recovery.”
Watch the full PFL 2 post-fight press conference with Josh Silveira above.
