Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight Jean Silva
is channeling his inner Babe Ruth.
Months after watching his 13-fight, over seven-year unbeaten streak
fall to Diego
Lopes, Silva (16-3) will return to the Octagon to open the
UFC 324 main card in Las Vegas, where he faces
Englishman Arnold
Allen (20-3). Arriving to the “Fight Capital of the World” this
past Saturday, Silva spoke with Brazilian outlet Ag.Fight and, as always, didn’t hide his goal.
“My tactic has no secret,” Silva declared. “I’m going to control
the distance, hit him without throwing strikes, and when he makes a
mistake, I’m going to knock him out. He’ll probably want to take me
down in desperation, but this time I’m not going to do the spinning
takedown. My prediction is to knock him out in the second
round.”
Rematch or Bust
The Fighting Nerd opened his heart, acknowledging that the defeat
in his last fight made him seek psychological help. With a new
lease on life, the 29-year-old from Brazil made it clear that, in
case of victory, he expects he will be next for a shot at gold. If
he had his choice, he would rematch Lopes, but does not mind if he
has to battle champ Alexander
Volkanovski.
“I’m going to beat Allen and hope Diego wins,” “Lord” remarked. “I
refuse to die without fighting Diego again, but my focus is on the
belt. If he loses, I’ll fight Volkanovski. It’ll be two bald guys
beating each other up, and I’ll be the champion.”
Silva went on to reveal that he has found a new, unexpected
passion: Nordic culture. He is so inspired by the Vikings of old
that he plans on growing his beard out in honor of them.
“If there are other lives, I think I was Nordic. I like the culture
of those guys so much that my manager gave me a plot of land in
Scotland as a birthday present. Now I’m a Highlander! And I intend
to visit my land soon after I beat Allen,” said the Fighting
Nerd.
While he opened up on some parts of his plan for Saturday, there
are secrets he wishes to keep. For starters, he would not share his
choice of walkout music. He did, however, note that his corner will
consist of Flavio
Alvaro, Pablo Sucupira and his wife, Carolina de Castro. Silva
will be making his way back to the cage after losing by knockout
for the first time in his career.
