Daniel Cormier assures Jean Silva is locked in for his first UFC headliner.
Silva (16-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) takes on former title challenger Diego Lopes (26-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 259 (ESPN+) main event, the promotion’s annual Noche UFC celebration, at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
This past Saturday, two of Silva’s Fighting Nerds’ teammates lost at UFC Fight Night 258 in Paris. Mauricio Ruffy was submitted by Benoit Saint Denis in the co-main event, and Caio Borralho was outstruck by Nassourdine Imavov in the headliner. Silva was brought to tears watching his friends fall short, but Cormier is confident that the outcomes won’t negatively impact his performance against Lopes.
“When you talk about Jean Silva, he’s carrying a confidence about himself that all of his teammates were carrying for a long time,” Cormier said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “It was very interesting to me to talk to him today, and see and feel if any of the negative of the team will affect him going forward. Not at all. This kid’s mind is a steel trap, and he feels ready for this moment.”
Cormier, who will be calling the fights at Noche UFC, sees Silva vs. Lopes as the perfect appetizer for Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford, which takes place later in the night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
“At the end of the day, all the things we say about Jean Silva – the knockout ability, the aggressiveness, the power – you could say it all about Diego Lopes,” Cormier said. “Diego Lopes does all the same things. He knocks people out, he finishes you, he’s aggressive. That is what earned him that title opportunity against Alexander Volkanovski.
“So when you look at these two guys, it seems as though it’s a matchup that’s made to start off a massive day of fighting. That’s the type of matchup that you leave Noche UFC going, ‘Man, I’m ready for more combat.'”
