Sherdog Prospect Watch: Joshua Silveira

JoshSilveira knocks out TeeCummins with a gorgeous head kick less than a minute into the LFA 115 main event to win the vacant LFA LHW belt pic.twitter.com/ILaFudLQ86

— Will (@ChillemDafoe) September 25, 2021

Joshua Silveira on Friday will headline the first-ever Professional Fighters League Challenger Series event when he faces Mohamed Juma in a light heavyweight showcase at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. In addition to having to defeat his latest opponent, Silveira needs to outshine all other competitors at the show, as the PFL plans to sign just one fighter per week to its main roster. The son of American Top Team co-founder Marcus “Conan” Silveira, he presents himself with a perfect 7-0 record and six finishes. His opponents have combined for a 31-18 mark and a respectable .633 winning percentage.

Considering his family ties to the sport, it should come as no surprise that Silveira grew up surrounded by a number of mixed martial arts greats, including former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder Vitor Belfort. He took up wrestling in high school and eventually followed his talent to Arizona State University, where he trained under the watchful eye of coach Zeke Jones. Silveira earned his bachelor’s degree in 2016.

Because of his wrestling and grappling background, Silva has experienced little difficulty in taking his adversaries to the ground. Once there, he moves with fluidity to secure position before running through submission attempts. The rear-naked choke has been his weapon of choice thus far. In addition, Silveira fights southpaw and looks precise with his punches and kicks. While he owns five first-round finishes, he has also shown he can maintain a pace—even in a five-round affair. He has yet to lose a single round on the scorecards.

Silveira made his professional mixed martial arts debut at Titan Fighting Championship 56 on Aug. 23, 2019. There, he put his skills to work and forced Jahsua Marsh to tap to a rear-naked choke 4:39 into the first round. In his next appearance, Silveira opened more eyes when he cut down Cody Rolling with a head kick 90 seconds into their confrontation under the Standout Fighting Tournament banner. Those victories earned him a call to the Legacy Fighting Alliance, where he has plied his trade ever since.

Silveira inside a minute! #LFA106 pic.twitter.com/IpZvZrGEEJ

— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) May 1, 2021

In his first assignment with the organization, Silveira dominated Fernando Alvarado for two rounds and ultimately submitted him with an arm-triangle 3:35 into Round 3 at LFA 93 in October 2020. The American Top Team representative then took out Matthew Paul and Rafael Viana with rear-naked chokes inside one round at LFA 98 and LFA 106. Silveira, 5-0 at the time, earned a shot at the vacant light heavyweight championship against Tee Cummins at LFA 115 on Sept. 24, 2021. He zeroed in on his opponent’s body before flooring Cummins with a head kick. A few follow-up punches sealed the deal and prompted the stoppage after just 49 seconds.

Silveira was not done there. In his most recent outing, he put together another stellar performance against Jared Revel and captured his second LFA championship, this time at 185 pounds. He paired body kicks with takedowns to keep Revel at bay. While a finish failed to materialize, Silveira outstruck and outgrappled his Revolution Fight Team-trained counterpart to a convincing unanimous decision. All three judges scored it 50-45.