Joshua Silveira, Killing Two Birds with One Stone

The 2023 Professional Fighters League light heavyweight final saw Impa Kasanganay defeat Josh Silveira to claim gold. Now the two will meet again, this time in a semifinal matchup as the headliner of PFL 8: 2024 Playoffs. The meeting was not necessarily destined to be: While Kasanganay rolled through the Regular Season with two finishes, Silveira fought and clawed his way into a postseason berth, despite falling short against Rob Wilkinson in the second round.

Feeling more free as a fighter and person, Silveira is ready to capitalize and get his revenge against the 2023 champion. Not only will the two meet once again, but it’ll be in both men’s backyard; with Kasanganay training at Kill Cliff FC and Silveira training at American Top Team, the two top gyms in Florida will be atop the marquee in Hollywood, Fla.

Speaking to Sherdog.com ahead of his main event assignment, Silveira spoke about his feelings towards a rematch, why beating Kasanganay means more to him, and the growth he’s found within himself since coming up short in the championship last year. Although he didn’t get two victories in the regular season, Silveira said he feels better than ever before.

“I feel great, I think I feel better than I’ve ever been compared to the last two seasons. I’m definitely getting better, I think there’s a new type of attitude that I’m going to get to show to the world. [In] Salt Lake City I got to show it and I’m going to do it again in Florida.”

Showing his new attitude in front of his family, friends, and home crowd, Silveira welcomes the pressure of the moment with open arms. “Obviously there’s going to be a lot of family, a lot of friends, a lot of people that you know and there’s all this pressure but this is the moment. I love these moments, I embrace these moments, and this is a rematch, that’s even better. A lot of fighters don’t get this rematch. It’s not like I knew this was going to happen but here we are, we worked hard for this. I get to rematch this guy and go put my hands on him, the last fight I didn’t get to do that, I was kind of in the moment.”

A win over Kasanganay would not only exact revenge for Silveira, but it would also punch his ticket back to the championship, but that revenge is the first thing on his mind.

“Honestly, I’m super blessed about [potentially] punching my ticket [back] to the Finals. But on a personal level, without being emotional and angry, I’m calm, I’m really excited to get this fight back with Impa. I’m staying calm, I’m taking it day-by-day but there are times I’m looking in the mirror and I’m just like ‘f–k yeah’. He’s an honorable guy, he’s a nice dude, obviously he’s genuine but I don’t give a s–t. I can’t wait to go after him. I’m not going to get my ass beat like that [last year] I’m either going to finish him or he’s going to finish me.”

Both fighters have grown in the past year and because of their individual growth and the stakes for which they’ll once again be fighting for, Josh Silveira wants the world to expect fireworks when they meet on Aug. 16.

“Expect attitude. I’m going to bring it to this motherfu–er. I don’t care. I’m going to bring that shit to him, I swear. I’m excited. I’m not here for a long time, MMA is not a long sport, I’m here for a good time. I want to be able to tell myself, regardless of the result, I actually went to go fight this motherfu–er. I put myself out there to go get this back, and that’s what you should expect, and that’s how I’ve been training.”

Silveira’s goal is simple: Defeat Kasanganay and get back to the championship. As he plans to do just that, he also plans to prove it to himself while showing the world the growth he’s had as a fighter and a man.