LAS VEGAS – Jean Silva calls next.
While many believe Movsar Evloev will be the immediate featherweight title challenger, Silva (17-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) thinks it’s his own spot to lose against UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. He added that the UFC brass and his management are already working to make the fight happen.
“You’re asking if I’d be fighting Diego (Lopes) and then fighting for the belt? No,” Silva recently told MMA Junkie through a Portuguese-language interpreter. “I would actually get that belt. I’m getting that belt and then after that, I’ll give a title shot to Diego as a rematch. … I’m the next one in line for the title. I’m the next one that’s going to get that belt. I’m taking that belt back to Brazil. Hunter (Campbell) is helping me out with that. My manager, Ivan (Jatoba) is helping me out with that. Dana (White), as well.
“You can see the path they’re trailing me. They’re giving me the path to that. I’ve said this before: I think the chances of Evloev fighting Volkanovski by the end of the year, when Volk has said he wants a fight with me by the end of the year, I think the chances of that happening are slim. If Volk wants to fight somebody, I’ll be ready to fight him. If I have to fight somebody else or beat up on somebody else before on my way to fighting him, I’ll fight him at the end of the year.”
A Silva title shot would create a narrative amongst many in the industry that Evloev (20-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) is being “jumped over” once again. It’s seemed Evloev has long been on the cusp of a title shot, continuing to take fights against the likes of Aljamain Sterling and Lerone Murphy. But Silva thinks people may be mistaken.
“I don’t think he’s ever got jumped or anything like that or left behind,” Silva said. “I just think he’s been stuck in his ways. He just hasn’t progressed. This is a company. This is a business. You need to sell your fights. You need to perform. You need to be there. You need to be active. Otherwise, if you don’t perform, people are going to over-perform and they’re going to bypass or surpass you. You’re going to be left behind. I do not think he was left dead in the water. He basically has not progressed. He’s been stuck in that. Again, if he wants to fight and can’t fight and he wants to fight me, we’ll fight next year. I’ll have a belt in my hand. Fight me next year. That’s how I see it as a businessman.”
Silva, 29, has won all but one of his UFC bouts. He bounced back from a TKO defeat to Diego Lopes when he defeated Arnold Allen by unanimous decision in January.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jean Silva adamant UFC title shot is next
