LONDON – Erick Silva sees similarities with Bellator 223 opponent Paul Daley, and he thinks that’s the recipe for a good fight on Saturday.
Silva (20-10 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) and Daley (40-17-2 MMA, 6-4 BMMA) are two welterweights who have been around the block during their MMA careers. They’ve finished 49 fights between them and are no strangers to action-packed affairs.
Brazil’s Silva isn’t ignorant to those traits, but he said there’s more to it, as well.
“Both Paul Daley and I have had a very extensive career,” Silva told MMA Junkie through an interpreter at Bellator 223 open workouts. “We’ve fought in a lot of different places and we’re very similar. We’ve fought in a lot of different events, we’re about the same age and I just know myself and him are very prepared and we’ve both going to go inside the cage trying to win this fight and progress with our career.”
Bellator 223 takes place at The SSE Wembley in London. A portion of the main card streams on the Bellator app prior to other main card fights, including Silva vs. Daley, that air via tape-delay on Paramount and DAZN.
One major difference that Silva, 34, does see between himself and Daley, 36, though, is the completeness of their skill sets. Although he thinks he can win the fight standing, Silva has 13 submission wins to his credit opposed to zero career tapouts for Daley, which is a glaring difference that could be capitalized on.
“Personally feel I really do have the tools to be able to finish the fight wherever it goes,” Silva said. “Daley’s known for his stand up. I know that I’m prepared to finish the fight whether it’s on the ground or standing up. Whether he’s prepared to finish the fight on the ground, that’s his problem, but I know I’m prepared to take the fight wherever it goes.”
After being successful in his first post-UFC run fight this past summer, Silva faltered in his Bellator debut in February. He suffered a unanimous decision loss to Yaroslav Amosov, but feels he’s been presented with a significant opportunity to rebound.
“This is going to be a very big step in my career after everything I’ve been through to fight a guy at his level,” Silva said. “I’ve been training very hard for this fight.”
For more on Bellator 223, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
