Erick Silva

Erick Silva (born June 21, 1984) is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division.

A professional from 2005 till 2019, he competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator MMA, and Jungle Fight, where he was the inaugural Welterweight Champion.

He is also former UFC Bantamweight fighter Gabriel Silva's big brother.

Silva comes from Vila Velha, Brazil and was an X-Gym training partner for the likes of Anderson Silva, Rafael Feijao and Jacare Souza.

Silva joined Jungle Fight, appearing at Jungle Fight 9 against Carlos Eduardo Dos Santos.

In the third and final round, Silva defeated dos Santos via rear naked choke.

At Jungle Fight 11, he defeated Igor Fernandes via unanimous decision.

Silva followed that up with two further victories in the promotion.

Silva then competed in a unique fight of his career, at Jungle Fight 17, which was held outdoors.

On the day of the event, the weather was clear throughout, until less than an hour before the start, when rain began to fall and never stopped.

The event, which went down as one of the wettest in MMA history was not a successful one for Silva who hit his downed opponent with a knee, resulting in a no contest verdict.

Silva won his next fight, at Jungle Fight 21, via TKO (knee and punches) in the second round.

Silva then entered into the tournament for the inaugural Jungle Fight Welterweight Championship at Jungle Fight 23.

Silva defeated both opponents on the same night to win the tournament.

His opening round matchup was against Gil de Freitas.

The opening round saw Silva utilize his striking game to take the first round, though de Freitas came back strongly in the second round with his take downs and effective ground game.

In the final round, Silva caught de Freitas with a roundhouse kick to the liver, dropping him.

After Silva used ground-and-pound to set up a guillotine choke, de Freitas was forced to tap out.

Silva progressed to the tournament final, where he faced the Mexican, Francisco Ayon.

Ayon had just come off a split decision victory in the semi-final and he wasn't able to mount any offense against Silva, who took him down.

After hitting him with several punches, Silva locked in an arm triangle choke to force the tap out with just 67 seconds on the clock.

Silva therefore became the inaugural Jungle Fight Welterweight champion.

Silva signed with the UFC in early 2011.

He was expected to make his debut against Mike Swick at UFC 134.

However, on August 4, 2011, it was announced that Swick had to withdraw from the bout due to a knee injury and was replaced by Luis Ramos.

Silva won quickly via first round TKO due to punches.

Silva was expected to face promotional newcomer Siyar Bahadurzada on January 14, 2012, at UFC 142.

However, Bahadurzada was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Carlo Prater.

After missing a looping right hook in the opening seconds of the fight, Silva quickly followed with a left knee to the body which effectively knocked Prater down.

Prater caught Silva's knee and held on to his leg as Silva began attacking with hammer fists and punches to the head.

During the attack, the referee, Mario Yamasaki, repeatedly warned Silva not to hit the back of the head.

When Prater appeared to go unconscious and could no longer intelligently defend himself, Yamasaki stepped in and stopped the fight.

Although Silva appeared victorious, Yamasaki disqualified Silva for strikes to the back of the head.

The disqualification was later upheld by the UFC.

Silva then faced Charlie Brenneman on June 8, 2012, at UFC on FX 3.

Silva won the fight with a rear-naked choke late in the first round.

Silva faced Jon Fitch on October 13, 2012, at UFC 153 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

After three rounds, Silva lost the fight via unanimous decision (30–27, 29–28, and 29–28).

The performance earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.

Silva was expected to face Jay Hieron on February 2, 2013, at UFC 156.