WHAT A COMEBACK FOR BRUNO SILVA
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#UFCVegas40 | Prelims LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/GlR4TlL5EE— UFC (@ufc)
October 16, 2021
After two impressive wins in the UFC’s middleweight division,
former M-1 champion Bruno Silva
is slated to return to the Octagon in less than two months.
In an interview with Sherdog.com, Silva revealed that UFC
matchmakers called his manager after his victory at UFC Fight Night
195.
“My initial plan was to return next year, but when my manager
called me on the day following the event with a very interesting
proposal to fight [at UFC 269] in December… I agreed immediately,”
Silva said.
Silva is scheduled to sign his bout agreement on Wednesday, but he
was unable to reveal the name of his opponent.
“He is not in the top 15 middleweight rankings yet, but I accepted
the proposal immediately because he is a great opponent. He is
taller than me and likes to stand and bang and not stall fights. I
have no doubt it will be another fun fight for the fans,” Silva
said.
Silva believes that his last win over Andrew
Sanchez was another big moment in his career, especially
considering the circumstances of the bout. Silva was down two
rounds and absorbed a low blow in the third stanza before rallying
for a stoppage at the 2:35 mark of the period.
“The third low shot was really hard and clearly on purpose,” Silva
said. “I thought to myself, ’This son of bitch wants to castrate
me?’ “My corner have told me I was losing first two rounds. I could
have stopped and taken advantage of the rules like many others have
done, but it’s not who I am. I fight for the knock out. I knew he
was broken and five minutes rest was everything he wanted, so even
though I was hurting, I decided to finish the job. Facing such
serious adversity just made my spirit stronger for future wars.”
Silva’s head coach, Andre Dida, the leader of Evolucao Thai,
recently moved to Florida to open the gym’s first American branch
this month. Silva will train for his third UFC fight in Parana,
Brazil, with the team’s new head coach, former Pride fighter
Daniel
Acacio.
“Daniel has a very similar style to myself. Furthermore, we have a
lot of great sparring right there,” Silva said.
Silva said he has a plan to eventually capture a title after facing
a difficult path to the UFC.
“I faced the worst path possible for a fighter, fighting much more
experienced opponents in northeast [Brazil] events in the
beginning,” he said. “Later I tested myself in the most feared MMA
market, Russia, and captured M-1 Global belt. After all I’ve been
through, I can’t be in a hurry. By the end of 2022 I want to be in
the Top 10.’
Born and raised in the small Cajazeira (between Paraíba and Ceará
states), in a very poor part of northeast Brazil, Bruno had to walk
a very hard path.
“Man, I started training in a public square in Cajazeiras,” he
said. “My physical training was to push a friend’s car. One day
police officers got a call and wanted to arrest me. I looked at
them and said, ‘Have you seen someone trying to rob a car by
pushing it?’ I´m just a crazy MMA fighter.’ They just smiled and
allowed me to keep training.”
And it was due to fighting much more experienced opponents in small
northeast Brazilian events, such as Campina Show, Ceara Fighters,
Camaragibe Fights, Carpina FC and Xoperia Fight, that Silva got the
nickname “Blindado,” which means “Armored.”
“I got this nickname after I fought a guy almost [60 pounds]
heavier than I. He beat me up badly for almost 10 minutes, but I
survived and was able to knock him out by the end of the second
round,” Silva said.
Silva initially didn’t like the nickname, but today he is so proud
of the moniker that he gave it to his baby daugher, Laura Blindado
Silva, as her middle name.
“She is my pride and joy. Everything I fight for, as well as the
strong name I gave her, is to make her always remember where her
dad comes from,” he said.
Silva’s hard-nosed reputation earned him an invitaiton to “The
Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3” in 2014, but as a heavyweight.
Coincidentally, former UFC middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa
also participated in that season of the show. Bruno drew finalist
Vitor Mirando in his first qualifying fight. He ended up suffering
the only knockout loss of his career in the second round, but he
nonetheless impressed his idol Wanderlei
Silva and his trainer, Dida, with the performance.
“When I saw that guy coming from Paraiba, with no
background, getting a knockdown on one of the best Brazilian
strikers at that time, I knew he was special and invited him to
come to Curitiba,” Dida said.
With the support of one of the best teams of Brazil, the talented
“Blindado” evolved fast, proving his coach right four years later
by winning the M-1 belt with a TKO victory against the favored
Artem Folov.
“I lived during the Chute Boxe golden era and I can say that I see
a lot of Wanderlei
Silva in Blindado,” Dida said. “To tell you the truth, from
what I´ve seen from this guy during the last six years, on a scale
of 1 to 10, I can say he’s only been at a 4 in the UFC. Besides the
big heart and talent, he works really hard. I truly believe that
this guy in two years can be a middleweight champion.”