Alex Silva faces Adrian Mattheis at ONE: ‘Lights Out’ tonight. But the Brazilian already has an eye on a newcomer who is making waves in the strawweight division.
Jarred Brooks has won two fights in quick succession and is up to #2 in the rankings. The UFC veteran has had plenty to say for himself and Silva sees him as a welcome addition,
“It’s nice to have him. He’s kind of shaken up the division,” he said.
Snappy rhetoric
ONE Championship’s fighters aren’t renowned for trash talking but Brooks has been keeping everyone on their toes with some snappy rhetoric. Silva is a fan,
“The guy likes to talk a lot. He’s a cool guy. But when they put the mic on him he likes to talk. I’d like to face him one day. I love Joshua (Pacio.) He’s a nice kid. But I hope and I wish Jarred can fight him, and I challenge him for the title. It’s going to be a good match and good motivation for me, but I know I can beat him.”
But Silva is very confident that his BJJ black belt would give him an advantage over the wrestler,
“He’s a wrestler. His game is to take people down and my game is to be on the ground.” he said.
Good matchup
Silva sounds very confident that the fight will happen and believes it is a good matchup for him,
“Of course I can wrestle, he can grapple. So it’s going to be interesting. I think my jiu jitsu on the ground is better than him. I know that match is going to happen one day. At the right time. For sure we’re going to compete,” he said.
Silva is currently ranked at #5 in the division and will looking for his 11th victory inside the circle when he takes on Adrian Mattheis tonight. The Indonesian actually asked for this fight and the former strawweight champion believes his opponent has ‘nothing to lose’,
“It’s a good opportunity for him. Every fighter in this division is lucky to fight against me. I’m ranked. I’m the former champion. I feel like they have nothing to lose,” he said.
My money
Matttheis actually went as far as to describe Silva as his ‘idol’ but the Brazilian says he is used to this by now,
“A lot of people say the same thing ‘you’re my idol’ but at the end of the day, they want my money, my cheque. I don’t wanna knock my idol out but he says he wants to knock me out so I don’t know what’s true but I respect him. He’s a nice kid. I never have any feelings for anybody. I’m very cool, very nice. But when they step (in) there, I fight for my family.”
