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Josh Silveira picked up a big 6 points to start the 2023 light heavyweight regular season when he quickly submitted Sam Kei at 2023 PFL 1.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Josh Silveira[/autotag] beat Sam Kei with a first-round submission Friday on the preliminary card at 2023 PFL 1 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Silveira, who picked up a big 6 points to start the 2023 light heavyweight regular season.
Check out the best photos from Josh Silveira’s first-round submission win over Sam Kei at 2023 PFL 1 in Las Vegas.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Josh Silveira[/autotag]’s first-round submission win over [autotag]Sam Kei[/autotag] at PFL 2023, Week 1 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. (Photos courtesy of PFL)
Check out the ceremonial faceoffs from the first PFL event of 2023.
LAS VEGAS – The 2023 PFL season kicks off Saturday and the promotion held its first ceremonial faceoffs Friday at The Theater at Virgin Hotels.
2023 PFL 1 features the first of two regular season fights for its featherweight and light heavyweight fighters with a main card on ESPN/ESPN+ after prelims on ESPN+.
In the main event, 2022 PFL featherweight champion [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] (26-4) returns against former UFC bantamweight title challenger [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] (23-11-1).
Also on the card, 2022 PFL light heavyweight champion [autotag]Robert Wilkinson[/autotag] (17-2) takes on former UFC light heavyweight title challenger [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag] (22-11).
Check out the ceremonial faceoffs above and the full fight card below.
MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 9 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
Josh Silveria sees a bright side to his first professional defeat.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Josh Silveira[/autotag] is feeling great as he returns to the cage coming off his first professional loss. You read that correctly.
The PFL light heavyweight is thankful to have come up short in a unanimous decision against American Top Team teammate Omari Akhmedov this past August. It was a tough pill to swallow at first because it was Silveira’s (9-1) first professional defeat. But now days away from a return at PFL 2023, Week 1 on Saturday at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Silveira is thankful to have experienced defeat.
“After my loss, I sat there and tried to analyze a bunch of reasons of how and why I lost,” Silveira told reporters at Thursday’s media day. “We could sit there and cry about it over and over again. I even blamed the mullet, like, ‘Oh, the mullet was flying everywhere, and I wasn’t getting hit.’ There were these moments where I almost had to appreciate the downfall a little bit to appreciate the uprising to get back on my feet.
“I always tell people, ‘Don’t stay too high in the highs, (and) don’t stay too low on the lows – always try to keep yourself in the middle.’ Unfortunately, for the first time in my MMA career, I was in the lows. I had to take time and literally pick myself up little by little. It sounds cliché, but it was the best thing that happened to me, that loss. … I’m happy Omari was the guy to give me the wake-up call, and I love that guy still till today. It was good for me. The loss helped me put things into perspective.”
Moving forward, Silveira won’t focus too much on the future or past. He wants to live in the present and take things fight by fight.
“I think the pressure is always going to be there,” Silveira said. “It’s a fight. I always tell the guys I try to approach a fight like I’m 0-0. Unfortunately, this is a very glorious sport and it’s a rough sport. People kind of remember you for your last fight. The success is good, but I tell my dad when I’m an old guy and I’m done with the sport, I’ll sit and reminisce on the memories. MMA is like, OK, you won – all right, buddy. Just keep on moving. You lost? Same concept – just keep on moving, one fight at the time until you do something for yourself. You build a future.”
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Check out these photos from 2022 PFL Playoffs 1 at Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Check out these photos from the fights at 2022 PFL Playoffs 1 which took place at Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Photos courtesy of Cooper Neill, PFL MMA)
Check out our staff members’ picks for the PFL Playoffs 1 card in New York, featuring lightweight and light heavyweight semifinal fights.
| Pettis vs. Ray |
Akhmeddov vs. Silveira |
Aubin-Mercier vs. Martinez |
Wilkinson vs. Monte |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 127-74 |
 Pettis (60%) |
 Silveira (59%) |
 Aubin-Mercier (88%) |
 Wilkinson (74%) |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 136-70  2018 Champion |
 Ray |
 Akhmedov |
Aubin-Mercier |
Wilkinson |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 132-74 2014 Champion |
Pettis |
Silveira |
Aubin-Mercier |
Wilkinson |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 132-74 |
Ray |
Akhmedov |
Aubin-Mercier |
Wilkinson |
| Matthew Wells @MrMWells 128-78 |
Pettis |
Silveira |
Aubin-Mercier |
Wilkinson |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 127-79 |
Pettis |
Akhmedov |
Aubin-Mercier |
Wilkinson |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 126-80 |
Pettis |
Silveira |
Aubin-Mercier |
Wilkinson |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 125-81 |
Pettis |
Akhmedov |
Aubin-Mercier |
Wilkinson |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 123-83 |
Ray |
Akhmedov |
 Martinez |
Wilkinson |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 121-85 2017 Champion |
Pettis |
Akhmedov |
Aubin-Mercier |
Wilkinson |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 114-92 |
Pettis |
Silveira |
Martinez |
Wilkinson |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 101-105 |
Pettis |
Akhmedov |
Aubin-Mercier |
Wilkinson |
The PFL returns this week for the first of three sets of playoff semifinals, starting with lightweights and light heavyweights.
The 2022 PFL Playoffs 1 event takes place Friday at Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN+ and ahead of post-lim qualifiers on ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, No. 1 lightweight seed [autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] (25-13) takes on [autotag]Stevie Ray[/autotag] (24-10) in a rematch from the regular season. Ray upset Pettis in their first meeting with a second-round submmission. The fight nearly is a pick’em. Pettis is -115 at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Ray is -110. Our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers largely are siding with Pettis to move on to the final. They have him with a big 8-3 picks lead.
At light heavyweight, No. 2 [autotag]Omari Akhmedov[/autotag] (23-7-1) meets late replacement [autotag]Josh Silveira[/autotag] (9-0). Silveira was an alternate and not in the playoffs until Antonio Carlos Jr. pulled out. Silveira is a -220 favorite, but it’s Akhmedov with a 7-4 lead in the picks from our staff members.
In the other lightweight semifinal, [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag] (15-5) is a -240 favorite against [autotag]Alexander Martinez[/autotag] (10-2) and he has a big 9-2 picks advantage.
And to open the main card, our only unanimous pick is in the other light heavyweight semifinal. [autotag]Rob Wilkinson[/autotag] (15-2) is this week’s biggest playoff favorite at -340 against [autotag]Delan Monte[/autotag] (9-2), and he’s got an 11-0 picks shutout.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Pettis (60 percent), Silveira (59 percent), Aubin-Mercier (88 percent) and Wilkinson (74 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2022 PFL Playoffs 1.
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After an unbeaten run to start his MMA career, including an LFA title, Josh Silveira burst on the PFL scene this year.
After an unbeaten run to start his MMA career, including an LFA title, [autotag]Josh Silveira[/autotag] burst on the PFL scene this year.
Silveira won LFA’s middleweight title in 2021. And though he only had one regular season fight for PFL in the 2022 campaign, he made the most of it with a first-round knockout of Marthin Hamlet.
The 6 points weren’t quite enough to get him into the playoffs, but he slid into the four-man light heavyweight bracket when Antonio Carlos Jr. was scrapped. Friday, Silveira (9-0) has a big test against Omari Akhmedov (23-7-1) in New York. A win will put him in the $1 million final later this year.
Perhaps it shouldn’t be a big surprise that Silveira is finding plenty of success early in his MMA career. His father and head coach is Conan Silveira, who had a pair of fights in the UFC in 1997.
Ahead of Josh Silveira’s fight with Akhmedov, check out the preview video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2022 PFL Playoffs 1.
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The lineup is set for the PFL’s first set of playoff fights next month in New York.
The lineup is set for the PFL’s first set of playoff fights next month in New York.
[autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] (25-13) remained the top lightweight seed despite an upset loss to [autotag]Stevie Ray[/autotag] (24-10) two weeks ago. Ray’s win made him the No. 4 seed – which set up a rematch with Pettis in the four-man playoff field.
On the other side of the lightweight playoff bracket, No. 2 seed [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag] (15-5) takes on No. 3 [autotag]Alexander Martinez[/autotag] (10-2). The winners of those two fights will meet in the $1 million lightweight season final in October.
In the light heavyweight playoffs, there’s been a significant shakeup. No. 3 seed [autotag]Antonio Carlos Jr.[/autotag] (15-5) is out of his fight against American Top Team teammate and No. 2 seed [autotag]Omari Akhmedov[/autotag] (23-7-1), the PFL announced Friday. Stepping in for Junior is another one of Akhmedov’s teammates at American Top Team, [autotag]Josh Silveira[/autotag] (9-0), who finished the regular season in fifth place and was an alternate.
Top light heavyweight seed [autotag]Rob Wilkinson[/autotag] (15-2) will take on No. 4 [autotag]Delan Monte[/autotag] (9-2) on the other half of the bracket.
The PFL’s first set of playoff fights take place Aug. 5 at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. The four-fight main card of playoff matchups airs on ESPN. A two-fight set of prelims and four fights after the main card stream on ESPN+.
The playoffs continue later in August with welterweights and heavyweights on tap Aug. 13 in Cardiff, Wales, and women’s lightweights and featherweights set for Aug. 20 in London.
The PFL 2022 Playoffs 1 card includes:
POSTLIMINARY CARD (ESPN+)
MAIN CARD (ESPN)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+)
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In a ridiculous sequence at 2022 PFL 4, the son of ATT’s Conan Silveira knocked his Norwegian opponent silly with kicks, punches, and knees.
[autotag]Josh Silveira[/autotag] has big shoes to fill, and he continues to impress time and time again.
At 2022 PFL 4, Silveira made his regular season debut for the promotion after an appearance earlier this year on PFL Challengers Series. There was no easy matchmaking off the bat, as Silveira (9-0) fought 2021 PFL light heavyweight runner-up [autotag]Marthin Hamlet[/autotag] (9-4) at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta.
Silveira, son of American Top Team coach Conan, notched a first-round knockout and six points in the standings as he battered Hamlet with a ridiculous flurry. A head kick put Hamlet on rubber legs and he never was able to recover. Silveira followed up with a barrage of dozens of punches, kicks, and knees – until a blasting knee up the middle sent Hamlet to the canvas on all fours.
Eventually, referee Nate Mann jumped in and saved Hamlet, who no longer defended himself.
I mean, come on… #2022PFL4 pic.twitter.com/MN339c048i
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) June 18, 2022
With the victory, Silveira keeps his perfect professional record in tact. In nine professional appearances, Silveira has eight finishes. Prior to his PFL signing, Silveira won both middleweight and light heavyweight titles in LFA.
The up-to-the-minute 2022 PFL 4 results include:
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Check out these photos from the 2022 PFL 4 ceremonial weigh-ins in Atlanta.
Check out these photos from the 2022 PFL 4 ceremonial weigh-ins and the fighter faceoffs. (Photos courtesy of Cooper Neill, PFL)
