Josh Silveira: “It’s my destiny to become PFL light heavyweight champion”
When you come from a family background that embodies the pure definition of mixed martial arts, there will be lofty expectations from the outside world when you become a fighter. Such has been in the case for Josh Silveira, the son of legendary coach (and fighter) Conan Silveira out of American Top Team. Silveira exploded onto the scene back in 2019 when he made his professional debut and has been with the PFL since 2022 when he won the Challenger Series contract.
Now, on August 4, Silveira will enter the 2023 PFL playoffs looking for redemption and a world title.
After starting his career with 9 consecutive wins, Silveira suffered his first defeat in the PFL playoffs last year, losing a decision to Omari Akhmedov and in an interview with MyMMANews.com, he discussed getting through the first setback, how the 2023 year has been, and his mindset coming into this year’s PFL playoffs.
Having Conan Silveira as a father also means you get him as a coach, and while that doesn’t always mean it’s technical lessons that’s being passed down, it’s how to handle adversity, professionalism, and all that comes with in a fighting career. Despite having his winning streak and momentum stopped briefly, Silveira credited fatherly advice for how he was able to bounce back from his first professional loss.
“Loss is a part of life, unfortunately in the fight game it’s one of those situations where one guys wins, one guy loses. I wish we all get a trophy, go back and see what we could done different and do it different, but that’s not the case. We got to take it on a chin like you take a punch on the chin, we move on, we find solutions. My father always told me, we find solution when there’s problem, we don’t try to find more problems. That’s where I’m at.”
Despite the quick and early success he has had in his career thus far, Josh Silveira always reminded himself to stay grounded and humble moving through MMA. Even after suffering his first defeat, the approach he has had in his career comes from the experiences he’s had growing up around the sport and learning from those who went through it before him.
“I think just growing up in the sport, I just seen a lot of grown men with broken hearts. As crazy as that sounds, we all have emotion, we all cry. I think it’s one of those things where I just grew up with it so much, a fight is a fight, you’re going to feel all those emotions. I just think I coped with that my whole life. I like to think things as addition and subtraction versus multiple and divide. At the end of the day, a fight is so simple but so complex, I just try to keep it simple in my mind. All I know is that I go to show up to the gym, be consistent, and have positive effort.”
Back in the playoffs and in the same position as last year, Silveira is looking to stop history from repeating itself, and make it to the next spot in the 2023 PFL playoffs, another step closer to the world title fight but there’s no hostility going through him.
“I don’t like to think of it like that but I think when you look at the cards that were dealt with me, I’m 30-years old now, I’m only getting older now. The intention to win this, really bad, the right way. It’s not just the semi-finals, I do it all with love. I’m back in the semi-finals for a reason. I think Ty [Flores] is a great guy but I think he was just slipping through the cracks. Ty is the guy to make it through, I’m going to treat him accordingly how I do with everybody. I think he’s going to try and rip my head off, I think he wants to win $1 million very bad, the difference is, this is my destiny.”
With his sights set on achieving his destiny to become a world champion, which will also include a $1 million grand prize, Josh Silveira knows it’ll be the biggest accomplishment in his life, not just for him, but for his father Conan, and his entire family.
“It’s the biggest thing in my life right now. It means everything for my family, my Dad, this will be the greatest accomplishment I ever had for myself. To be honest, the greatest accomplishment is my Mother and Father coming to this country to give me the opportunity, that I could never repay them, but this would be the whipped cream on the dessert. This will be an opportunity that no one can take from me or my family. If God allows it, it’ll be the biggest blessing in my life.”
Josh Silveira is back where he found himself last year to begin the playoffs and this time, he knows it is his destiny to fulfill, and he knows what it will mean to his Dad, his family, and his fighting legacy.
