Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Bantamweight Gabriel Silva is excited to take on former title challenger Ray Borg at UFC San Antonio.
Newly signed UFC bantamweight Gabriel Silva is taking on a big, yet exciting, challenge for his Octagon debut: former flyweight title challenger Ray Borg.
Paired up with a man who fought for almost five entire rounds against legendary former 125lb title holder, Demetrious Johnson, the Brazilian says such a challenge motivates him even more to go after a win at UFC San Antonio.
In fact, Silva tells Bloody Elbow he will try to show all that he can offer when he meets the “Tazmexican Devil” in Borg’s home state of Texas.
“Yeah, I know, I’m facing Ray Borg right out of the bat,” Silva said. “That makes me very happy, you know, for being able to face a well-known name, a guy who has already fought for the belt. He’s tough. That shows I’m tough, too, right? I still have a lot to show inside the Octagon. I’m prepared for the fight, I trust my team, my camp. I know Ray Borg is tough, I’ll respect him a lot, but I’ll show him what I’m all about. I hope I can win.”
Borg’s recent track record hasn’t been the best — he has had just one fight following the Johnson loss in 2017 — having missed weight in his return to the bantamweight division and losing a unanimous decision to Casey Kenney in March 30. For Silva, however, none of that means anything, because the Brazilian will expect the best version of Borg possible.
“It’s my debut, it’s not like I can choose,” Silva said. “They offered us that fight and we accepted it immediately. If they think I deserve to debut against such a high-caliber guy, no matter what his current track record is, we are going to give our best. We like challenges.“
“I think that (Borg’s current phase) can make him even more dangerous,” Silva continued. “Because he’s on a skid, it’s complicated, I think he’ll try to really come at me in the beginning, he’ll try to pressure me and show what he’s worth. To show he’s really Ray Borg, the former title challenger. We are aware of that, we will be ready and alert not to offer any openings in the first minutes.”
Still undefeated in his professional MMA career, Gabriel Silva (8-0) will join a select group of fighters when he goes for ninth straight win. The younger brother of UFC vet Erick Silva, Gabriel claims not to be affected by the pressure of being compared to his older brother, telling Bloody Elbow it’s actually the other way around, saying talking to Erick about the UFC experience actually calms him down.
“I don’t think that affects me at all,” Silva said. “People tend to compare us or they expect a similar skillset, but we are not alike. We’re a little different. Erick is known for being an explosive striker, despite his jiu-jitsu background. That’s not me, I enjoy grappling. Him being a former UFC fighter doesn’t affect me though, it actually calms me, takes some of the pressure off. We talk a lot, he tells me about everything he went and still is going through. That gives me the tranquility not to let anything external factor affect my performance.”
Gabriel Silva is expected to take on Ray Borg at UFC on ESPN 4, in San Antonio, Texas, on July 20. The card will be headlined by a welterweight bout between former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and contender Leon Edwards.