At 32 years of age, Ariane
Lipski da Silva is now fully committed to the third major stage
in her professional mixed martial arts career.
After showing great promise in the local Brazilian scene, the
invitation came to join Poland’s famed
Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki promotion. In the KSW, not only did
she win their flyweight belt, she went on to defend it twice.
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Stage one completed.
After years of UFC setbacks, Lipski believes best is to
come
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship came calling in 2018, but a
reported foot injury by booked opponent Maryna
Moroz meant that her actual debut wouldn’t take place until the
following year. In hindsight, it may have been an omen of things to come. Her
Octagon tenure may hold some sort of record to the highest
percentage of canceled bouts or opponent changes. In under 7 years,
da Silva racked up a record of 6-8, with nine matchups being either
canceled or postponed. Twice, da Silva could not compete. Seven
other cancellations took place due to a laundry list of things
you’d hope won’t happen to an MMA opponent, including but not
limited to injuries, illnesses, failed PED tests and travel
restrictions.
“To a certain extent, the opponent changes always had an effect.
But I wouldn’t blame my losses on that,” da Silva told
Sherdog.com.
“For some bouts, I wasn’t physically well. I still accepted those
challenges, believing I could still win. At other times, I wasn’t
mentally well. And I still believed I’d get the win. And there were
times where everything, physical and mental, felt perfect but once
I was in the fight, my body wasn’t reacting correctly. All were
lessons to be learned. It takes experience to truly understand how
one’s body works, and to consistently translate training into
positive results. Lessons were learned so I could come back even
stronger.”
Stage two completed.
From UFC frustration to PFL contender: Lipski believes time has
arrived
Now, after beating dangerous Hawaiian Sumiko
Inaba in her
Professional Fighters League debut this past March, da Silva
hopes that third time is the charm.
“Of course, I was happy with that win, though I would have
preferred to get a finish. I came close on the second round, when I
knocked my opponent down. I lacked the techniques for finishing the
fight at that moment. But I came back to my academy and trained for
that scenario. I find ways to evolve from every fight, though I
always feel I have more to learn, even after a win. Now, I’m
getting ready for Jena
Bishop. I know she has very good jiu-jitsu. I’m putting myself
in situations so I’ll know how my body should react. It’s a clash
of styles – striker versus grappler. My jiu-jitsu level is better
than her striking level. As such, I feel I’m at an advantage. My
experience, physical strength, and standup technique will make the
difference. I’m constantly improving my ground skills. I’m looking
forward to an excellent performance against Bishop on
Saturday.”
The preparation for grappling ace Bishop, same as before, took
place at Florida’s
American Top Team. It’s been da Silva’s MMA home since
2023.
“We still have the same training format. My head coach is my
husband, Renato
Silva He coordinates my strategy as well as my work with other
coaches and training partners. My jiu-jitsu coach is Vagner
Rocha and Desmond
Moore takes care of my wrestling. We’ve been working this way
since I joined American Top Team. It’s how I train best — a camp
focused on me with my team helping simulate my opponents.”
Top notch
featherweights headline PFL San Diego: Tune in Saturday, June 27 at
7 p.m. ET on ESPN 2.
A more mature da Silva’s has lofty goals for this third major
stage.
“I’m always fully focused on my next opponent. Of course, it’s also
important to make longer-term plans within the organization. I
believe our weight class is still a bit scrambled. We don’t have a
champion. A flyweight belt is not yet up for dispute, though I’m
confident that an excellent performance against Jena Bishop will
allow me the chance to fight for the PFL championship.”