Joshua Silveira: Worth the Weight

Joshua Silveira spent his first three-plus years on the Professional Fighters League roster plying his trade as a light heavyweight. However, when the company announced plans to reinstitute a 185-pound weight class in 2025, his ears perked up.

Silveira will meet Mike Shipman in a middleweight quarterfinal as part of the PFL 2025 World Tournament 3 undercard this Friday at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The winner advances to face either Impa Kasanganay or Fabian Edwards in the Final Four at 185 pounds. Silveira sounds reinvigorated by his decision to downshift in weight.

“It’s all a buildup for a better product of who I’m supposed to be, what type of fighter I’m going to be and what type of things I’m going to succeed in,” he told Sherdog.com. “This year has been looking pretty promising. Being in a new weight class is very refreshing. I feel like a new person. I was fighting in a weight class that didn’t give me my full potential. I wasn’t dieting properly and had a different mentality. With this new weight class and where I’m at in my career, I just can’t wait to show [everybody] the difference.”

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the PFL World Tournament LIVE Friday, April 18 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+.

Silveira performed well in the PFL as a light heavyweight. He was a semifinalist in 2022 and 2024, and he reached the final in 2023. However, Silveira admits he likely would have made the move to middleweight sooner had the option been available to him.

“I’m feeling amazing,” he said. “My weight is good. It’s my real weight class. As a light heavyweight, I was actually fighting guys a little bigger than me. Sometimes, it went my way, and sometimes, it didn’t go well. You live and you learn. I took the opportunity because the PFL didn’t have 185 to offer. Who wouldn’t fight for a million bucks if you had the opportunity, even if you had to fight somebody a little bigger?”

A Bellator MMA alum out of the London Shootfighters camp, Shipman poses plenty of problems. The 34-year-old former British Association of Mixed Martial Arts champion enters the cage on the strength of a three-fight winning streak. Shipman last saw action at Bellator Champions Series 5, where he took out Eslam Abdul Baset Syaha with a knee strike and follow-up punches in the second round of their Sept. 14 pairing.

“I think he’s a good veteran of the sport,” Silveira said. “He’s a little older than me so he might have a little more experience on paper, but I think I may have a little more actual experience. I know he’s a great fighter. He likes to finish. He’s exciting. He goes forward. He likes to stay in the fire. At the end of the day, I’m going to have more tools in my toolbox to beat this guy up. Whether I submit him or finish him with a knockout or dominate the fight, I feel I’m overall better.”

In looking at the bracket, Silveira pointed to a potential showdown with American Top Team stablemate Dalton Rosta as an intriguing possibility. Rosta takes on Sadibou Sy in his quarterfinal.

“Out of all the people in the tournament, I would like to fight my teammate in the final, just because I know that we made some good money,” Silveira said. “If we get to the finals, why not make some good money together, beat each other up and laugh about it later?”