Connect with us

MMA

‘A milestone in history’: Natalia Silva confident Brazil will hold all UFC women’s titles by end of 2026

Published

1 month ago

on

‘A milestone in history’: Natalia Silva confident Brazil will hold all UFC women’s titles by end of 2026

One nation can hold all three women's titles in the UFC if Natalia Silva and Amanda Nunes get their hands on the flyweight and bantamweight belts in the coming months, and Silva is confident they will join Mackenzie Dern in the pantheon of Brazilian champions before the end of the year.

Nunes faces off with champion Kayla Harrison in the co-main event of UFC 334 on Nov. 14, co-headlining the Madison Square Garden card in New York, while Silva enters the octagon this Saturday in Salt Lake City to battle Wang Cong for the vacant 125-pound title.

“I really believe in that,†Silva told MMA Fighting about Brazil holding all three belts. “I'm going to do my part Saturday. I'm going after the belt. I've dedicated myself a lot to this, trained really hard, spent a month living in Mexico, training in Mexico because of the altitude. I gave up a lot of things to live this experience, to train, to focus only on the fight, and I'm going to do my part.

“And I also believe Amanda has all the potential to do it. Three Brazilian champions at the same time would be a milestone in history. It would be a milestone, a historic moment for women's and Brazilian MMA.â€

Silva beat three former champions in a row to improve to 8-0 under the UFC banner, scoring decisions against Jessica Andrade, Alexa Grasso and Rose Namajunas. With Valentina Shevchenko relinquishing the title to treat an injury, Wang earned the opportunity after her fourth straight win in the promotion with a decision against Tracy Cortez.

“From the very beginning, I always saw myself as a champion,†Silva said. “Ever since I arrived, that little girl from Minas Gerais, quietly working her way up and saying, ‘Guys, I came here to be a champion.' But I speak so softly that sometimes people say, ‘I don't know about this girl.' But I've always imagined myself as a champion, because to me, I am a champion. Everything I've been through, and I'm still here today fighting for my dream, so to me, I'm a champion.

“On Saturday, I'm just going to show that to the world. I'm just going to become a champion in the eyes of the world, because to me, I'm already a champion today, and I've always imagined myself in that position. I don't know what it will be like in terms of people recognizing me, I don't know how that's going to be. After I become one, I'll tell you what it's like [laughs]. But in my head, I already feel like the champion. I already feel like I'm living that moment. I always visualize myself that way.â€

It's still unclear how long it will take for Shevchenko to be cleared to re-enter the octagon again and whether or not her next move in the sport will be at flyweight or chasing a second belt at bantamweight. Regardless, Silva doesn't feel her title victory would be diminished by the fact that it didn't come against the greatest flyweight champion in MMA history.

“Whether it's by beating Valentina or not, if I win the title, I'm the undisputed champion,†Silva said. “Regardless of whether it was against her or against someone else. I was prepared to fight her, I wanted to fight her. If she got injured and couldn't be there, that's out of my hands. My focus is on becoming champion. If I fought for the title against someone else and became champion, then I'm the champion. We can fight afterward if she wants, but I won the title. The title wasn't handed to me, so I'm the undisputed champion, as far as I'm concerned.â€

“There's someone who is just as good as Valentina standing on the other side [of the cage],†she added. “I prepared to have the toughest fight of my career regardless of who it was. I'm not too concerned about that. I'm just living in the moment.â€

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MMA

MMA fighter Jindrich Janecka resuscitated after cardiac arrest in cage

Published

8 hours ago

on

November 12, 2026

By

MMA fighter Jindrich Janecka resuscitated after cardiac arrest in cage

Jindrich Janecka went into
cardiac arrest during his bout against Tomas
Skalicky at Cage Game 2, according to Oktagon
MMA chief medic Norbert Bidrman.

Janecka appeared hurt after a kick to the body and was later
knocked out by a punch. The bout took place under Oktagon MMA's
stand-and-bang rules, which prohibit ground fighting.

Oktagon MMA chief medic describes CPR, defibrillation and
Janecka regaining consciousness at Cage Game 2

Bidrman said the medical team performed CPR, delivered a shock and
administered oxygen. Janecka regained consciousness in the cage and
was able to speak with the team before an ambulance took him to the
hospital. Bidrman said a blow to the chest may have triggered an
abnormal heart rhythm, but the cause had not been confirmed.

“I'm the head medic here at Oktagon. We just had a very emergency
situation here, where one of the fighters, specifically Jindra,
went into a sudden cardiac arrest. After some cardiopulmonary
resuscitation, we delivered a shock. He was given oxygen and
brought back to life. He is fully oriented to place, time, and
person. And BRNO, the ambulance service, whom we greatly thank for
arriving on time, has taken him over, and he is now already at the
hospital. Jindra, I want to repeat, was already fully conscious in
the cage. He was communicating with us. And now we just want to
find the cause of why this happened. Most likely this could have
been some kind of arrhythmia caused by a blow to the chest that he
received earlier,†Bidrman said in a statement shared on X.

Continue Reading

MMA

UFC 334 | Pro fighters make their picks for Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes title fight

Published

17 hours ago

on

November 11, 2026

By

UFC 334 | Pro fighters make their picks for Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes title fight
Trending:

Josh Hokit compared to Cain Velasquez by Ciryl Gane's coach ahead of UFC 334 showdown

The UFC heads to Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, for UFC 334. In the co-main event, Kayla Harrison defends her women's bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes. Heading into the bout, Harrison is a -196 favorite while the former champ is a +152 underdog on FanDuel.

Ahead of the bout at UFC 334, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the women's bantamweight title fight. The pros believe Nunes will upset Harrison in her return and reclaim the bantamweight title.

BJPENN.com Fighter Picks Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes:

Julian Erosa, UFC featherweight: I think Nunes. She has less muscle than Harrison, and muscle takes oxygen, and I think Nunes wins in the later rounds.

Dustin Jacoby, UFC light heavyweight: This is a good fight. Amanda is coming back, so there are some questions, and she has the knockout power. But, I do think Kayla will get the win with her wrestling.

Gillian Robertson, UFC strawweight: Amanda. I've trained with and known her for a long time, so I might be bias. But I do think she is the greatest woman in combat sports, and I think Amanda won't be scared of Kayla's judo and will be aggressive on the feet with her striking.

Mario Bautista, UFC bantamweight: I think Amanda Nunes gets the win. Kayla cuts a lot of weight, and I do worry about that with how hard Amanda hits.

Modestas Bukauskas, UFC light heavyweight: A very tough fight to pick. Kayla has been great in the UFC, but I can never pick against Amanda. Although she does have a layoff, I think she wins.

Terrance McKinney, UFC lightweight: I think Kayla Harrison wins. She will be able to take Amanda down, and Nunes will get tired as we have seen in the past. Kayla defends her belt.

***

Fighters picking Kayla Harrison: Dustin Jacoby, Terrance McKinney

Fighters picking Amanda Nunes: Julian Erosa, Gillian Robertson, Mario Bautista, Modestas Bukauskas

ICYMI: Pro fighters also made their picks for the UFC 334 main event featuring Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit.

Who do you think will win the UFC 334 co-main event between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

Continue Reading

MMA

Kayla Harrison’s coach downplays past experience with Amanda Nunes playing any real part in UFC 334 fight  

Published

1 day ago

on

November 11, 2026

By

Kayla Harrison’s coach downplays past experience with Amanda Nunes playing any real part in UFC 334 fight  

As Kayla Harrison prepares to face Amanda Nunes in the UFC 334 co-main event, a lot of the focus for the fight is going to center around them previously training together at American Top Team and even sharing the same coaches at times.

But Mike Brown, who previously coached Nunes and has served as Harrison's head coach since the first day she stepped foot in the gym, says that narrative is really being blown out of proportion. While Brown knows that Harrison and Nunes crossed paths from time to time, they were never that close long before they were scheduled to compete for the women's bantamweight championship.

“It's a big gym,†Brown told MMA Fighting. “There's a lot of training partners. They weren't training partners that often. Very seldom.â€

Of course, Brown gets pulled into that conversation a lot because he did coach both fighters but even that doesn't really cause a conflict of interest. At least in his book.

“I have a job,†Brown explained. “I work for Kayla and I work for ATT. That's my job. I trained with Amanda, but I was never her official head coach. But I did work with her for a handful of fights.

“But this is business. It's a big fight, and they're both going to make a bunch of money and everyone is in a good situation.â€

Now Brown obviously has an intimate knowledge about the good, the bad and the ugly working with both fighters but even that doesn't necessarily serve as an advantage.

Nunes left American Top Team, and effectively started her own gym, and that's continued as she prepares for her comeback from retirement. But Brown knows that Harrison and Nunes both have enough footage out there that the strategy come Saturday night isn't going to be some revolutionary change from what each has done in the past.

“I think they both each other's strengths and weaknesses,†Brown said. “Amanda's a big power puncher and everyone knows that. Kayla is a world class grappler and a multiple world champion, a world champion in judo, so there's no secrets in what each fighter's going to want to do.

“I don't think you would have had to coach them to figure that out. I think everyone knows what everyone wants to do here. It comes down to who can implement their game plan.â€

Since the day she started in the sport, Harrison has long talked about defining her legacy by becoming the greatest of all-time.

With two Olympic gold medals in judo along with a UFC championship and several PFL championships, Harrison could already make a compelling argument as the greatest combat sports athlete in history.

That said, Brown acknowledges that Nunes' accolades are undeniable and adding that win to her resume should help separate Harrison from any past competition when it comes to that greatest of all-time conversation.

“I believe so just because of her track record,†Brown said about Harrison. “Her near perfect record. Amanda's beaten every champion I believe at 135 except for Kayla. She's beat every champ that's ever been at the weight. That's pretty damn impressive except for Kayla. Obviously, she's done more in the sport than Kayla, but Kayla's record is near perfect. One blemish with [Larissa] Pacheco in their third fight. She had beat her twice before that.

“She's clearly head and shoulders above the competition. She also has a very high finish rate I would consider her the greatest of all-time if she wins this fight.â€

Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending