Joshua Silveira’s MMA legacy runs deep, but he’s still chasing his own crown

JOSH SILVEIRA IS GOING TO THE SHIP! #PFLWORLDCHAMPIONSHIP#PFLPlayoffs LIVE NOW 🇺🇸 ESPN 🌎 https://t.co/jPNvomCxHI pic.twitter.com/zbdTqLj0xk — PFL (@PFLMMA) August 5, 2023 Joshua Silveira seemed predestined to grow up in mixed martial arts. Born to legendary jiu-jitsu master and American Top Team co-founder Marcus “Conan” Silveira, Joshua was a mere 10 months old when the first Ultimate Fighting Championship card took place in Colorado. Before he was 5, he got to see his father battle Kazushi Sakuraba twice in the same night at the UFC's first event in Japan. This is the only life he’s known and he’s all in. Joshua Silveira discusses Marcus ‘Conan’ Silveira, PFL title hopes and his middleweight run “The fight game is a grueling game. You always want to get better because you know you’re not gonna do it forever. This is my life and this is what I’m meant to do until the wheels come off,” Silveira shared with Sherdog.com, prior to his upcoming bout at PFL Charlotte. “Some days I feel like a champion. I think that’s the constant battle of the fight game. The goal is to get better every day but some days it doesn’t work like that. The key is consistency – showing up every day and understanding there’s ups and downs. Here I am. I’m 33 years old and could be a couple of shots away from a title shot. We’re right there. You never know what the future holds for you.” For now, he is fully focused on his next opponent, Canada’s Aaron Jeffery, a six-time Bellator MMA and two-time Professional Fighters League veteran. The middleweight clash takes place at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday, Aug. 7. Silveira, known as “Coninha,” is confident Jeffery presents nothing he hasn't seen countless times before. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Aaron. He’s been around. He’s a veteran. He has a good amount of fights, just like me. I think we’re pretty similar on paper. One thing about him, I think he always fights the same. Back in the day, he’d get a good amount of KOs because he likes to pressure fight. But I think to myself – what's he gonna do to me? I’ve faced some competition that’s very good at KOs and grappling. And he’s good, but he’s not the best. I don’t know what he’ll try to do besides hold me against the cage. I have more tools to use for this fight. I think he’s one-dimensional. Wherever the fight takes place – on the ground or on the feet – I'll feel good, no matter what.” Despite being surrounded by world-class talent, Silveira’s road has been a bumpy one since joining the PFL in 2022, often alternating between wins and losses. His best run came in the 2023 PFL light heavyweight tournament, where fellow Floridian Impa Kasanganay defeated him via unanimous decision in the final. Silveira’s team eventually concluded he’d find more success as a middleweight. Staying busy has been another challenge. Silveira had been booked against Jordan Newman in April of this year, but Newman withdrew. Ultimately, the unexpected cancellation resulted in Silveira being sidelined for nearly a year after his last bout, a decision win over Murad Ramazanov. An elite middleweight clash headlines PFL Charlotte: Tune in on Friday, Aug. 7 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN. “It’s disappointing but the fight game is like that. It’s part of the process. Some of those losses were at light-heavyweight. Now as a middleweight, I’ve only dealt with one loss. It’s a refreshing new weight class for me. Sometimes people take year off because they get hurt. Mine was just because the fight fell through. My camps were grueling. It was two camps in one, you could say, with no fighting glory feeling in between. In that respect, it was tough. But now we’re here. You can only look forward. God has His plan for us.” Roughly a week before the Charlotte card, MVP—Most Valuable Promotions—officially announced its merger with the PFL. Silveira has been around long enough to know that every new situation has its pitfalls, but nonetheless feels very positive about what the future may hold. “It looks good from the outside. It was surprising. It caught everyone off-guard. Now I just wanna see the inside. What’s gonna happen with the fighters, and how is it gonna benefit us? There’s a lot of positive, but nothing is free in life. Maybe some people get fired. Who knows what’s gonna happen? The good thing about being a fighter is that there’s only so many of us, so I don’t have to compete with production or marketing or have to worry about any of those people taking my job. I just gotta keep getting these Ws – winning. Maybe I’ll be able to fight on a Netflix card one day. Who knows?”