Earlier this year, 2013 Summer Series Bantamweight Tournament winner Rafael Silva stepped up on 13 days notice to face Joe Warren for the interim bantamweight title at Bellator 118 in Atlantic City.
The fighter out of Camboriu, Santa Catarina, Brazil ended up missing weight for the bout and was defeated by decision in the main event of the fight card.
While Silva (21-4) does not make excuses, he gave a timeline of all the problems he has before, during, and after his fight against Warren in May.
“Those who are close to me know that I never make excuses,” Silva said. “But in the Joe Warren fight, everything that could have possibly gone wrong did. I took the fight on 13 days notice when I was still recovering from an injury. Since I had to travel for four days just to get my visa done for the trip to America, I literally had no time to cut weight properly or train properly. I’m always training hard in all aspects but an opponent like Joe Warren, who has a world-class wrestling game, obviously requires some very specific training to accommodate for his unique style.”
“And my problems continued: not one or even two, but three of my flights were canceled. Because of the chaos and confusion with our flight schedule, my luggage and my coach’s luggage were lost by the airports, and our luggage contained all of my weight-cutting stuff. I finally arrived in the US only one day before the weigh-ins, but still could not begin my cut because I had to spend seven hours doing the medicals. At the end of the day, I had just two to three hours to cut 20 pounds.”
“To repeat, I am not the type to make an excuse but I had many things working against me besides what everyone saw in the fight against Joe Warren. All my dreams, hard work and passion go into my life as a fighter, so I hope people can see how frustrating this experience was, because I think that I could have won the fight with a regular preparation and weight cut, and this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“But still, I have no regret! Bellator has been great to me and I’m actually very proud to have had a five-round war with such a great champion as Joe Warren, especially after all that happened. I am not disappointed – not at all. It was a crazy feeling – though I now have a loss on my record after winning 13 fights in a row, I don’t feel like I was truly defeated. What I have learned is that, if when I have so much working against me and going wrong, I can still go toe-to-toe with a fighter of Joe Warren’s level for 25 minutes, there is nothing I cannot achieve when I am fully prepared.”
While the defeat to Warren was a minor set back, he will look to get back into the title picture tomorrow night when he meets Rob Emerson on the main card of Bellator 127. While he respects Emerson, he does not believe that Emerson is on his level.
“I think Rob Emerson is a very well-rounded and experienced fighter,” Silva said. He’s got a very nice striking style but can be too aggressive sometimes and leave himself open. I respect Rob Emerson and understand that he is also a big 135er. I don’t want to sound disrespectful but I don’t think Rob Emerson is on my level and I intend to show that to everybody. My coach has already developed a good strategy for me and I believe I will have a great performance. I will finish him in the first round, maybe with a high kick.”