Joaquim Silva Discusses Facing a Former TUF Teammate at UFC 191

MMAjunkie recently spoke to UFC fighter Joaquim Silva ahead of his upcoming UFC 191 bout against Nazareno Malegarie. Below are some highlights.

On fighting a friend from The Ultimate Fighter: “He became one of my best friends in the ‘TUF’ house; he helped me, even when cutting weight. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the final, but now we get another chance to fight in the UFC. To fight him now is part of my job. My goal was to fight in the UFC. I don’t choose my opponents. I’m sure we’ll share a meal and a laugh after the fight.”

Silva on his improvements: “The level of my game improved, to the point that I was picked to go to ‘The Ultimate Fighter’; I had to seize that opportunity, as that reality show is the door into the world’s biggest promotion. I faced Franca, but I didn’t have the best strategy. Plus, for that fight, I also had trouble with my weight. I ended up losing. I hope to implement the strategy we’ve been working on for a few months now and beat Malegarie. I’m happy that (UFC President) Dana White could see that all of us in the show were very dedicated high-level athletes. I expect to make the most of this opportunity.”

Silva on facing his friend for real: “I’m really happy with this opportunity the UFC gave me to still fight for them; it’s a dream of mine. I’m now facing a tough opponent, Nazareno Malegarie, who was my best friend in the house. We used to kid that we’d face each other in the finale. Now we’re fighting for real. He’s very experienced, and I learned a lot from him. From this time together, I was able to recognize his strong and weak points.”