UFC on FUEL TV 10's Erick Silva willing to fight 20 more times before title shot

FORTALEZA, Brazil – While 28-year-old Brazilian Erick Silva (15-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) is officially just 3-2 in the UFC, his immense talent and explosive fighting style have made him a star in his native country. So much so, it seems, that Silva is forced to ask people to have patience in his run to the top.

“I think it’s still too soon,” Silva said at Saturday’s post UFC on FUEL TV 10 press conference when asked if he was looking for a title shot. “I’m not very worried about a title fight right now. To be honest, I’m not all worried about that. The only thing I want to do is to do my work.

“As I’ve mentioned, I only focus on my next fight. I’m going to go home now, I’m going to rest, I’m going to have one week, two weeks off, and then I’m going to start working out again. I’ll just wait for the UFC to schedule my next fight, and when they do, I’m going to focus on it.”

Silva competed on the main card of Saturday night’s UFC on FUEL TV 10 event at Paulo Sarasate Arena in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil. Facing an always-tough Jason High (16-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC), Silva needed just 71 seconds to stuff a takedown, transition to his opponent’s back and lock in a beautiful triangle-armbar that earned a tap.

The move was good enough to earn Silva an additional $50,000 for the evening’s “Submission of the Night,” an accomplishment made all the more special by the incredible eight tapout victories that occurred on the card.

Silva is now officially 2-2 in the UFC, though his first loss was a controversial disqualification result in a UFC 142 fight with Carlo Prater. He’s also banked three-consecutive performance bonuses with a pair of “Submission of the Night” wins book-ending a “Fight of the Night” loss to Jon Fitch.

Silva is now considered by many to be one of the brightest prospects in the sport at 170 pounds, but he insists he’s not interested in challenging for the title anytime soon. Instead, he said he would prefer to continue building his reputation and experience while preparing for a lengthy championship run rather than just a shot at the belt.

“If I could do 20 fights before the belt, I’d do 20 fights before the belt because when I go for the belt, I want to have a lot of experience,” Silva said. “I want to have a lot of knowledge.

“Definitely, when I go for the title, I want to have it on my waist. But that’s not part of my plans, not at all, right now.”

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