Bruno Silva Faces the Music

Questions surround former M-1 Global titleholder Bruno Silva, and he understands why.

“Blindado” will return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship stage for the first time since he completed a six-month suspension when he toes the line against Ismail Naurdiev as part of the UFC 308 undercard this Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It marked the second time Silva had been suspended over a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.

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“It was a sad period when I thought my career would be over, but the UFC stood by me,” he told Sherdog.com. “They understood my situation. I communicate everything: what supplements I’m taking, where I can be found and what medications I take. I’ve never had a problem in this regard while in the UFC. The new doping commission was very gracious with me. They even stated that they wouldn’t hold the [previous] case against me. They said they believed in me this time, but unfortunately, they could not find contamination in my supplements. They didn’t feel it made sense to suspend me for a year or more.

“I fought on March 30,” Silva added. “The test then was negative. Then a test on April 11 came back positive, and then on April 30, another test was negative again. They stated that I had no intention of having an extra benefit during the fight. They gave me three months, but since I had been caught before, it was doubled. The nightmare has been resolved.”

Back in the UFC again after the promotion elected not to re-sign him in 2020, Naurdiev looks to test Silva on multiple fronts. The former Brave Combat Federation champion boasts 18 finishes—12 by knockout or technical knockout and six by submission—among his 23 professional victories.

“He’s yet another champion I’ll be fighting,” Silva said. “I’ve already faced ex-champs from M-1, Brave, the UFC and Bellator. I have a lot of experience in that. Ismail is battle-tested. He likes to scrap, but he has a limited and repetitive set of strikes. It should be a tough fight.”

Silva remains entrenched with the Brazilian TKO camp in Curitiba, Brazil, where his all-around skills continue to evolve.

“It’s a great team,” he said. “I’ve been here for 10 years. I keep doing the same work. Lately, my biggest obstacle was my mindset. I started competing more. This year, I entered three jiu-jitsu tournaments. I had a boxing match against a teammate. I worked on different aspects. I’m a jiu-jitsu black belt, and I want to show more of that, not just to myself but also to my team. It’s something I’ve been working on for years.”

Now 35, Silva has not set foot inside the cage since he suffered a contentious technical decision defeat to former middleweight champion Chris Weidman at UFC on ESPN 54 in March.

“There was a total lack of respect,” he said. “I took four fingers to the eyes. The whole time, he kept doing it on purpose. He didn’t even receive a warning, and his final flurry was one finger in each eye, followed by punches. We filed a claim with the athletic commission to change the result. After two months, nothing had been done. Their conclusion was that we were wrong and Weidman was right. The loss remained on my record.”

Some seven months removed from his ill-fated encounter with Weidman, Silva hopes to turn the page, return to the winner’s circle and halt a career-worst three-fight losing streak.

“We know that’s how MMA goes,” he said. “Sometimes you’re on top, [and] sometimes you’re at the bottom. It’s the life we lead, but I always work hard every day. I worked hard when I was winning, and I still work hard after losing. Now it’s time to get back to winning and show my value. I failed a doping test. I’m coming off three losses. Still, the UFC believes in me. I want to pay them back and show my worth.”