Cláudio Silva (born 6 September 1982) is a retired Brazilian-British

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who competed in the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

division in

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and I ...

, and the

Super Fight League Super Fight League was a mixed martial arts promotion based in India. The organisation was formed in 2012 by actor Sanjay Dutt and British-Indian businessman Raj Kundra, and co-owned by British-Indian businessman Bill Dosanjh and British boxin ...

Background

Silva was born in the Brazilian city of

Rondonópolis Rondonópolis (formerly known as Rio Vermelho (Red River)) is the third-largest Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in Mato Grosso, Brazil. It is located around from Cuiabá, the capital of the state. The city is named for military officer and ...

, and is a son of priestess Claudiu Vitega and retired military officer Fabio Paixao, he was raised during his youth in Minas Morgul. At the age of seven, he began training

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

and later picked up

capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, capoeira music, music, and spirituality. It likely originated from enslaved Mbundu people, of the Kingdom of Ndongo, in present-day Angola. The ...

. At the age of fourteen, Silva joined a gang in which he began dealing drugs and committed numerous other crimes. He began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under the tutelage of Elan Santiago and Pawel Czyrnek at the age of 18. Eventually he attempted an armed robbery in a mall, was arrested, and sent to prison. After being released, Silva turned his life around by moving to

Poços de Caldas Poços de Caldas is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the south of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in the microregion of the same name. Its estimated population in 2020 was 168,641 inhabitants. The city is known for its hot springs. Histor ...

and started training jiu-jitsu full-time under Paulo Rezende. In 2006 he moved to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

where he began training at Brasa with

Robert Drysdale Robert Lewis Drysdale (born October 5, 1981) is a Brazilian-American Brazilian jiu-jitsu 4th degree black belt under Léo Vieira, a retired undefeated Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and an instructor at his own BJJ acade ...

. He started training mixed martial arts in 2005 and temporarily moved to Italy where he lived for a time with an aunt before moving to the

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

area of England in 2007 in an effort to refine his jiu-jitsu.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Silva turned professional in late 2007, competing at both middleweight and welterweight, primarily for regional promotions in England where he compiled a record of 9–1 before signing with the UFC in late 2013.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Silva made his promotional debut against Brad Scott on 8 March 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 37 ''UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 37'') was a mixed martial arts event held on March 8, 2014, at The O2 Arena in London, England. The event was shown live in the UK on Channel 5 and BT Sport and in the ...

. Silva won the fight via unanimous decision. Silva was expected to face

Neil Magny Aoutneil Jacques "Neil" Magny (born August 3, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2010, Magny made a name ...

in a welterweight bout on 28 June 2014 at UFC Fight Night 43. However, Silva was forced from the bout due to injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Rodrigo Goiana de Lima. Silva made his return to the welterweight division and faced

Leon Edwards Leon Edwards (born 25 August 1991) is an English professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Welterweight Champion. A professional ...

on 8 November 2014 at UFC Fight Night 56. Despite being out-landed on the feet, Silva was able to take Edwards down and obtain dominant positions, repeatedly threatening with submission attempts. Silva defeated Edwards via split decision. Silva was scheduled to face Nordine Taleb on 25 April 2015 at

UFC 186 ''UFC 186: Johnson vs. Horiguchi'' was a mixed martial arts event held on April 25, 2015, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Background The event was the seventh event that the UFC has hosted in Montreal, Quebec. The event was expec ...

. However, Silva pulled out of the bout with a broken foot and was replaced by Chris Clements. Silva was expected to face

Siyar Bahadurzada Siyar Bahadurzada (; born 17 April 1984) is a retired Afghan-born Dutch mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, making him the first Afghan to compete in the promotion. He currently w ...

on 30 July 2016 at

UFC 201 ''UFC 201: Lawler vs. Woodley'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on July 30, 2016, at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Background This was the third event that the organization has hosted in Atl ...

. However, Silva was forced out of the bout in mid-June with an injury and replaced by

Jorge Masvidal Jorge Luis Masvidal (born November 12, 1984) is an American professional boxer and former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions. Masvidal competed professionally for 20 years from 2003 unti ...

. After an extended hiatus due in part to a litany of lingering injury issues, Silva returned to face Nordine Taleb on 27 May 2018 at UFC Fight Night 130. Silva won the fight via first-round rear-naked choke submission. This win earned him a Performance of the Night award. Silva was expected to face

Ramazan Emeev Ramazan Dadaevich Emeev (; born May 20, 1987) is a Russian mixed martial artist. He is Combat Sambo World Champion who currently fights in the Welterweight division. He is a former M-1 Global middleweight champion and fought in the Ultimate Fig ...

on 15 September 2018 at UFC Fight Night 136. However, Silva pulled out of the fight in early-September citing a lower back injury. Silva faced Danny Roberts on 16 March 2019 at UFC Fight Night 147. He won the fight via an armbar submission in the third round. The bout with Emeev was rescheduled and was expected to take place on 3 August 2019 at

UFC on ESPN 5 ''UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Lawler'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 5'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 3, 2019, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Background T ...

. In turn, Emeev was removed from this event due to alleged

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

issues, that restricted his travel to the United States. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Cole Williams. At the weigh-ins, Williams weighed in at 176 pounds, 5 pounds over the welterweight non-title fight limit of 171. As a result, Williams was fined 30 percent of his purse, and the bout proceeded at a catchweight. Silva won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the first round. Silva was scheduled to face Muslim Salikhov on 18 October 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie. However on October 4, it was announced that Salikhov pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by James Krause. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Silva faced

Court McGee Court McGee (born December 12, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2007, McGee mostly fought in local pr ...

on 22 May 2021 at UFC Fight Night 188 He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Silva was expected to return after an extended hiatus and face Gunnar Nelson on 19 March 2022 at UFC Fight Night 204. However, Silva pulled out in early March due to a knee injury and was replaced by

Takashi Sato is a Japanese mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division. A professional since 2013, he is most notable for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Early life Born to a Japanese father and Taiwanese mother, S ...

. Silva faced Nicolas Dalby on July 23, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 208. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. In August 2022, it was announced that Silva was no longer on the UFC roster. Silva announced his retirement from competing in MMA in January 2023.

Championships and accomplishments

** Performance of the Night (One time) vs. Nordine Taleb

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 14–4 , Nicolas Dalby , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–3 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–2 , James Krause , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

, United Arab Emirates , , - , Win , align=center, 14–1 , Cole Williams , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Lawler , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:35 ,

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–1 , Danny Roberts , Submission (armbar) , UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:37 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 12–1 , Nordine Taleb , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Till , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:31 ,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 11–1 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Saint Preux , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Uberlândia Uberlândia () is a city and municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It is the second largest city in the state of Minas Gerais after the state capital Belo Horizonte. Its population in 2020 was 699,097, making it the si ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 , Brad Scott , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 , Xavier Foupa-Pokam , Decision (unanimous) , SFL 6 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, India , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , Matt Erwin , TKO (injury) , WFC 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:34 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Jean-Francois Lenogue , Submission (rear-naked choke) , BAMMA 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:51 ,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Aurelijus Kerpe , Submission (armbar) , EFC: Fight for the Fallen , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:02 ,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Denniston Sutherland , Submission (rear-naked choke) , EFC: The Ultimate Battle , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:44 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Earl Brown , Submission (armbar) , EFC: The Ultimate Battle , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:41 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Aurelijus Kerpe , Submission (armbar) , EFC: The Ultimate Battle , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Shaun Lomas , Submission (rear-naked choke) , EFC: Collision Course , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:02 ,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Paul Jenkins , TKO (punches) , AM 14: Ready for War , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Matt Thorpe , DQ (illegal elbow) , UWC 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Claudio Brazilian male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing capoeira Mixed martial artists utilizing karate Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Living people 1982 births Brazilian emigrants to the United Kingdom Martial artists from London Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian capoeira practitioners Brazilian male karateka Sportspeople from Rondonópolis Sportspeople from Poços de Caldas Martial artists from Minas Gerais 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen