Erick Silva doesn’t plan to be complacent following his first victory since Sept. 2016.
Silva went one-on-one with Nick Barnes in the main event of LFA 45 last Friday night (July 20). Silva turned the tables on Barnes to pull off a first-round submission win via armbar. The victory improves Silva’s professional mixed martial arts record to 20-9, 1 NC.
At one point, Silva was regarded as a top prospect in the UFC’s welterweight division. Losses to the likes of Jon Fitch, Dong Hyun Kim, and Matt Brown derailed Silva’s momentum. Luckily, Silva was able to rebound in his first MMA bout since Dec. 2017.
Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Silva spoke on not getting too ahead of himself:
“I’m obviously very happy for the victory. but I don’t wanna get too excited about it because my focus is to evolve more, so I can’t waste any more time. Barnes is a great fighter, I couldn’t find the distance and he surprised me with an elbow that knocked me down, and I had the opportunity to lock the armbar and get the submission.”
Silva left the UFC with a 7-6 record under the promotion. Prior to his UFC run, Silva had a 12-1, 1 NC record. Silva noted that he’s glad to have the pressure of being in the UFC off of him, but he plans to take a smarter approach going forward so that he can get back to being a highly regarded 170-pounder. Time will tell if Silva can get there.
Do you think Erick Silva’s return will lead him to a successful comeback?
