Josh Silveira, the son of American Top Team head coach Conan Silveira, was happy to win a second title for his father.
For [autotag]Josh Silveira[/autotag], this one was for dad.
Silveira became just the second double champion in LFA history on Friday after he defeated Jared Revel by unanimous decision with three judges scores of 50-45 at LFA 119 from the Arizona Federal Theatre in Phoenix.
Silveira, 28, is the son of American Top Team head coach Conan Silveira, who’s trained a plethora of notable mixed martial artists through the years, including UFC double champ Amanda Nunes. Josh was emotional when he was announced as the winner and shared a warm embrace with his father to celebrate.
“It feels like I fulfilled everything that we put our goal to,” Silveira said. “My dad and I decided to do this a long time ago. … We knew we were gonna do this. This was the plan. I can’t wait for the future.”
Silveira, who’s also the LFA light heavyweight champ, is now 7-0 in his professional career. And while the fight with Revel didn’t look especially difficult, it was the first time Silveira has gone to a decision after four submissions and two knockouts to open his career.
Silveira’s repeated takedowns proved to be too much throughout the 25 minutes. Revel, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, managed to keep Silveira’s attacks from top position at bay, but Silveira controlled a large majority of mat time with his standout wrestling.
In the end, Silveira was happy to get the job done for not only himself, but also his father.
“The goal was our goal together, but he’s been doing this longer than I was living,” Silveira said. “He knows exactly what we need to do, but I need to want it more than he does. And that’s what he put in my head. ‘I could want this so much, but you’re gonna have to do it.’ We decided a long time ago.”
Complete LFA 119 results:
- Josh Silveira def. Jared Revel via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) โ to win vacant middleweight championship
- Richard Palencia def. Allan Begosso by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) โ to win vacant LFA bantamweight championship
- Clayton Carpenter def. Rodney Kealohi via knockout โ Round 1, 0:13
- Dorian Ramos def. Isaac Thomson via TKO โ Round 2, 2:20
- Austin Wourms def. Chris Renteria via submission (armbar) โ Round 1, 1:01
- Ray Waters def. Ovidio Bojorquez via TKO โ Round 1, 4:43