UFC featherweight Jean Silva sat down for more than an hour with Israeli fans this week, appearing as the marquee guest on the 50th episode of "Knockout," the combat-sports podcast that ONE says has become, in its first year on air, a genuine home for Israel's MMA community.
Hosts Yaniv Kaminski and Olga Rubin were joined by Ilai Brazili, the unbeaten Israeli fighter who trains alongside Silva at the Fighting Nerds gym in Brazil, for a wide-ranging conversation that mixed hard biography with lighter, behind-the-scenes UFC stories.
Silva, ranked in the world's top six featherweights, walked the hosts through the financial hardship and sacrifice that marked his early years chasing a career in Brazilian MMA before he broke into the UFC, according to the podcast.
He also spoke about his ambitions to eventually fight for the UFC featherweight title, and about the role his wife has played in helping him manage the balancing act between his personal life and a demanding professional schedule, ONE reported.
A recurring theme was his friendship with Brazili, a bond the pair described as having grown across language and cultural lines through their shared training camp at Fighting Nerds - the São Paulo gym, founded by Caio Borralho and coach Pablo Sucupira, that has become one of the UFC's most talked-about pipelines of young talent.
Silva also reflected on his impressions of Israel itself, telling the hosts he had been struck by the warmth of the reception he received from local fans during his visit, per the podcast.
The timing of the episode is no coincidence. Brazili is set to headline a GFN event at Tel Aviv's Menora Mivtachim Arena on Monday, July 27, against Brazilian ex-UFC fighter Lucas Almeida - his first professional fight on Israeli soil after a frustrating run of cancelled and postponed bouts.
Brazili confirmed that Silva will work his corner for that fight, giving the Israeli a training partner ranked among the UFC's elite in his corner as he pushes for the kind of statement win that fighters and fans alike believe would finally open the door to a UFC contract.
For a podcast just reaching its 50th instalment, landing a top-10 UFC featherweight as a guest - on the eve of his own trip to work an Israeli fighter's corner - is a marker of how far Israel's MMA media scene has come in a single year.
