Jean Silva was on an incredible 13-fight winning streak when he walked into his match against Diego Lopes at UFC Noche 3.
Some of those wins were impressive TKO and submission victories that showcased the versatility of the featherweight. The 28-year-old was quickly rising through the ranks of the division and he got the biggest opportunity to sky rocket his career on Saturday.
Lopes was Silva’s biggest challenge to date and he gave up one hell of a performance. It was an excellent fight that could’ve gone either way, but a spinning elbow was the beginning of the end for Silva. The Brazilian suffered his first UFC loss, though he gained tons of respect for hanging with the recent challenger for the UFC Featherweight title.
Silva has finally released a statement about his loss to Diego Lopes and Silva feels that he let his emotions take over the fight.
“Unfortunately, yesterday the emotion got the better of me,” Silva said in Portuguese (English translation via Championship Rounds). “I was seeing well in the second round, but I ended up rushing in with everything just wanting to throw down.”
The UFC featherweight bears all of the responsibility because he wasn’t connected to his team. He promises to figure out his situation and improve.
“I ended up fighting alone, I wasn’t connected with my team,” Silva said. “So the responsibility is all mine for this loss.
One thing you guys were right about: The Fighting Nerds lost three in a row,” Silva said. “So the three of us must be making similar mistakes. So for sure, me, Caio, and Ruffy will have a meeting. We’ll figure this out and improve. Whether people like it or not, I’m sorry, but we’ll be back.”
Though Silva lost that bout, he did walk out with a bonus as him and Lopes won fight of the night honors. At the moment, it’s unknown when he’ll step into the octagon again, but it should be another great fight regardless. As for Lopes, Aljamin Sterling is angling for an eliminator fight against the Brazilian, but nothing has been set in stone just yet.