RIO DE JANEIRO – Erick Silva’s UFC career can be described as consistently inconsistent. He’s appeared nine times inside the promotion’s octagon, and in that stretch has never won or lost two fights in a row.
Silva’s up-and-down tenure has seen him score some incredible victories and taste bitter defeats. With his 10th UFC fight just around the corner, though, the 30-year-old believes he’s found a happy medium that will breed frequent success.
“Every athlete needs to be very well trained and very well focused, and I think when you lose it’s because you made a mistake in the fight or in the weight cut or whatever it may be,” Silva told MMAjunkie. “I’m fixing those mistakes so I’m not consistently winning and losing and I can just continue winning. That’s what I’ve been working on this whole time.”
After a 75-second submission victory over Mike Rhodes at UFC Fight Night 58 in December, Silva (17-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) will attempt to win back-to-back fights for the first time since 2010 when he takes on Josh Koscheck (17-9 MMA, 15-9 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 62 co-main event.
UFC Fight Night 62 takes place at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanazinho Gymnasium. The welterweight bout airs on the FOX Sports 1-televised main card following prelims on FOX Sports 2 and UFC Fight Pass.
Koscheck is the definition of a UFC veteran. He will compete in a record 24th welterweight bout, but enters the contest on a four-fight losing streak. “The Ultimate Fighter 1″ cast member fought just three weeks ago and was submitted by Jake Ellenberger at UFC 184. However, that didn’t stop him from jumping on the opportunity to take on Silva in Brazil.
Silva was originally scheduled to face Ben Saunders at the event, but “Killa-B” suffered an injury and could not compete. That opened the door for Koscheck to step in, news which Silva took in stride.
“In reality, anyone in the weight class, we know that it’s a possibility we can face (them),” Silva said. “But (Koscheck) is not somebody I looked at and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to face him,’ or, ‘This is what I’m going to do against him.’ It was a last-minute thing, but he’s a guy I’ve known is in my weight class.”
Koscheck has made it no secret the bout with Silva is the final fight on his current UFC contract. The 37-year-old hasn’t made a decision regarding retirement yet, but the outcome of the upcoming fight is sure to have an impact on whether he continues to compete.
It’s clear Koscheck would like nothing more than to avoid a fifth consecutive defeat, but Silva will do everything in his power to hand it to him. Silva believes all the pressure for this fight rests on his opponent, which he thinks is a nice change of pace.
Silva is usually the one with heavy expectations from the MMA community, but he said he’s learned to ignore those notions. “Indio” admits he’s succumbed to the pressure of high-stakes situations in the past. But now that he’s determined his priorities in life, Silva said he’s pressure-free.
“I think that when you start fighting for the fans or the organization, there’s a lot of added pressure that goes in there to perform,” Silva said. “I confess that I’ve gone through that before and I’ve felt that first hand. But now I’m fighting for those who really care about me, those who don’t care if I win or lose, so it’s more of a personal satisfaction.
“I don’t feel like I have to prove anything to the fans or to the organization or anything like that. I need to prove something to my family, my friends and those who train with me. It’s actually more of a personal satisfaction to win than anything else or having to prove anything to anyone.”
For more on UFC Fight Night 62, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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