Joshua
Silveira is relieved to get back in the win column after
suffering a unanimous decision loss against Impa
Kasanganay in the finals of the
Professional Fighters League 2023 season, regardless of the
method of victory.
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Silveira walked away with six points in the PFL light heavyweight
point standings after securing a technical knockout due to injury
in the first frame against Sadibou Sy
in their
PFL 2 meeting on Friday.
While both competitors used the initial minute of the round to make
reads, Silveira managed to get Sy against the cage and subsequently
take him down, only for the Swede to instantly attempt to grab
referee Marc
Goddard’s attention by waving at him. Once Goddard noted that
Sy had dislocated his thumb, the veteran referee was quick to call
off the contest at the 1:14 mark.
Despite the odd fight-ending sequence, Silveira is happy to get
back in the win column. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time
the Florida native has won a fight due to an injury sustained by
his opponent while being taken down. Silveira’s victory against
Delan
Monte in June last year also came by way of a knee injury for
Monte in the first round.
“All his fights, all the takedowns people attempt on him are head
inside, so [a] big focus [was] head on outside,” Silveira said at
the post-fight press conference. “And he even came out orthodox,
which I thought, he was gonna come out southpaw but I got him to
the cage, got my head to the outside, and I did a freaking, good
old, just… you know. In the wrestling world, it probably wouldn’t
have been the greatest takedown, but this is MMA and then I think
he posted with his thumb awkwardly.
“Man, I don’t know, this is the second time this is happened to me
with an opponent with a takedown. I don’t know if my takedowns are
just cool like that, but I’ll take it. A win’s a win. Obviously, I
hope he recovers well. His thumb was kind of out of place, it was
crooked for sure so prayers to him and a speedy recovery.“