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.”
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.”
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.”
“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.”
