Sergio “The Savage” da Silva (7-9), a fighter from the NYC area, passed away last Wednesday at the age of 34. It is not been publically released the cause of death. Da Silva initially trained at Long Island MMA amongst the likes of former Bellator bantamweight champion Marcos Galvao, Chris Wade, and Ryan LaFlare. He was a coach at the UFC Gym in Astoria, Queens.
Fight Career
Da Silva made his pro debut against former UFC fighter Alp Ozkilic for Ring of Combat. His second fight was against top-ranked UFC bantamweight Aljamain Sterling. In both fights, da Silva lost. His career saw him regularly fight for New Jersey’s Cage Fury FC. He amassed a 6-3 record fighting for them. He had two fights for Bellator. His first was against Robert Sullivan at Bellator 108. His second was at Bellator 180 in 2017. Both fights he lost. At Bellator 180 during the weigh-ins, he attempted to try to manipulate his body position and hold the towel to make weight. This was in full view of the athletic commission and the agents present admonished him for his actions. He wound up missing weight for that fight.
Legal Trouble
A screenshot of surveillance footage of a bank Sergio da Silva robbed in NYC. Video courtesy of the NYPD.
On August 24th, 2017, da Silva robbed a bank in Astoria, Queens. Da Silva was masked and wearing a hoodie. He jumped over the bank counter and claimed to be armed with a gun. Da Silva threatened to shoot a bank teller and left the bank with $45,000 in cash. He was found guilty of third-degree robbery. The guilty verdict was overturned later due to juror misconduct. A juror admitted to researching about da Silva.
Rememberances
Numerous fighters voiced their condolences over the passing of da Silva. UFC fighter Jared Gordon wrote on Twitter:
(Insert generic post for mental illness/addiction and other various reasons for why all your friends die and wish they had reached out first) fuck this world. Love you Sergio https://t.co/9F6u6kVRoQ
— Jared Gordon (@JFlashGordonMMA) December 18, 2020
Many fighters posted messages on da Silva’s Instagram account. His former opponent, Aljamain Sterling wrote, “Sad to hear this news today. Rest easy and condolences to your family and loved ones 🙏🏾”
Rey de Leon, the head coach of 10th Planet NYC, was one of the last people to compete against da Silva in a public competition. The two had a grappling match at Rise Invitational 7.
“The only interaction I had with him was for that little moment after our match, but I can see that he was enjoying the matches and even though he was limping he still held his head high and acted as if nothing happened,” de Leon told MMASucka. “It’s really sad to hear that he passed away and when I saw that, it was a shock to me because he looked fine each time when he was doing The Fight Cave Podcast. We are going to miss Sergio, he really was a savage.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Da Silva’s family. To donate go here.
