Thiago Silva: An MMA Rebirth in ACB
Thiago Silva is in a much better place in his life than he was during his troubled childhood. Silva was able to accomplish his dream of leaving the impoverished area of Brazil to become a happy family man. He is the former ACB light heavyweight champion and set to headline ACB 88 from Brisbane, Australia. Silva is set to take on another former UFC fighter, Chris Camozzi.
The Rough Times in Brazil
“I came from a poor family in Brazil with lots of issues,” Silva told MMASucka. Silva made the decision to leave home at only 13 years old and move into the favelas of Sao Paulo, Brazil to escape a life of mistreatment by his father. The favelas are known as the most dangerous areas in Brazil, often that of extremely low-income residents and rampant gang activity. Silva credits fighting with helping him escape the rough life he had. “I trained martial arts since I was seven years old. I started to take it serious when I was 15. The fighting helped me to get a better life,” Silva stated.
The Move to Professional MMA
Silva took his first professional fight at 21 years old. After nine professional fights, all victories, Silva received the call from the UFC. Silva made his debut at UFC 71 winning by first round TKO against James Irvin. He would continue his UFC run for six years earning notable victories along the way. Silva’s UFC run came to an unexpected end after an unfortunate legal issue arose, to which charges were later dropped.
Silva was able to bounce back from the out of cage incident and returned to the World Series of Fighting, suffering a loss to Teddy Holder after nearly a year and a half out of action. Silva would take on a few more bouts before landing with major Russian MMA organization, ACB.
Landing in ACB
In his very first bout in ACB, Silva took on Jared Torgeson at ACB 51 for the vacant light heavyweight title. Silva was able to pull out the unanimous decision to earn the belt. After losing the belt Silva took on one more bout at light heavyweight before moving down to middleweight.
Though he lost a close split decision to the number five ranked Mikhail Kolobegov, Silva will headline ACB 88 on June 16, 2018 against Chris Camozzi. “I have been training hard for this fight,” Silva said to MMASucka. “ACB is an excellent organization. They respect and treat us very well. I’m sure they will be competing with the UFC and Bellator very soon!” It looks like Silva is experiencing a rebirth, and a second chance at a happy life.
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