Fabian Edwards has only lost twice in the last four years. This is the title match against Bellator and PFL’s Johnny Eblen. Standing across the cage from Edwards in the tournament semi-final match at PFL 7 on Friday, Josh Silveira was the one responsible for emulating him at Eblen’s camp with Florida’s American top team.
“I was him,” Silveira told MMA Fighting. “I’m also a southpaw, so I was trained by Johnny. I understand his style. I’ve already studied him well. If I think he’s easy, that’s good for me. I love it.
Despite playing the role of Edwards and helping Eblen twice the previous year, Silveira believes he is not like a British fighter.
“It’s hard to copy him because he doesn’t want to do takedowns. He doesn’t like to put pressure on him,” Silveira said. “I’m a pressure fighter. For Johnny, I mimicked his kick. He likes to score points and only ends the fight once.
Silveyra says that the undefeated Eblen had received important advice during camp and helped him, and seeing them both go to war in the cage, the son of At-Leader Conan Silveyra showed that Edwards “has given him a great fight, so I have to respect him.”
Silveira has never opened as such a sudden underdog Odd Swisse, so I feel Edwards is in a must-see situation.
“There’s a lot of good names, good fighters, semi-finals, lots of them on the table,” Silveira said. “If you look at my career and his career, he fought my team twice for the belt. He beat the guy I lost twice, so there are some things on the paper saying, ‘This guy is better’, but I don’t know, it’s pretty much the same. ”
The Silveira vs Edwards winner will advance to the $500,000 Grand Prix final against anyone coming out of the Dalton Rosta vs Aaron Jeffrey matchup that will take place on the same night in Chicago.
“We’ve reached a point where fighting is always difficult,” Silveira said. “Take that idea from your head that you’re going to have a simple fight. It won’t happen anymore. The difference now is that you know where I am in my life and how important this moment is to me. I have to go there and work. I’m stressed.
“On paper, you’re supposed to beat me,” he continued. “We win on paper, but the fight doesn’t work that way. We’ve seen a lot of things not come to reality on paper. At the end of the day, we have respect for him and his family. His brother (Leon Edwards) was also the champion.
Besides Eblen, the only men who could break Edwards’ matches were Costello Van Stinis and Austin Vanderford, making decisions in 2020 and 2021. Silveira sees similarities between Fabian’s style and his brother Leon Edwards.
“They’re good when they move forward, they know how to box and kickbox, but they don’t like to put pressure on them,” Silveira said. “I put pressure on him to walk behind me and find my way. I’m a wrestler, but I’m not always showing it in my fights. Sometimes I get up and brawl too.
“To be honest, I think it’s a bad match for him,” he continued. “I’m a wrestler, but I grew up in jiu-jitsu. If I’m on top and take my back and I’ll end this fight with submission. He’s been knocked out before. I’ve not been knocked out before.