Thiago Silva is without a doubt one of the most intimidating fighters on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster.
With his stone cold demeanor, stoic face and tattooed body, Silva is one Brazilian you wouldn't want to encounter in a dark alley, or in the Octagon, for that matter. And while I'm positive he's quite a gentleman outside of the cage, inside of it is an entirely different story.
That's because in Silva's eyes, fighting is like war and his main goal is to push the pace, conquer before getting conquered and "destroy" his foe -- all while showing no mercy towards the man on the receiving end of his punches.
Each and every time he steps foot inside the world-famous Octagon, the light heavyweight contender always comes forward, pushes the paces and rarely, if ever, backpedals.
It's just not in him to retreat.
And when the 30-year-old faces Rafael Cavalcante this weekend (June 8, 2013) at UFC on FUEL TV 10 in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil, he isn't going to change his style up one bit and he will bring the same intensity that made him one of the most feared 205-pound fighters in the world early in his combat career.
That same intensity can be felt in his recent interview with UFC.com:
"It's a natural thing for me. When I go into the Octagon, I see it as a war. When you go to war, it's either conquer or get conquered, get it? So the truth is I prefer to defeat than to be defeated. So fight for me is war. When you go to war you don't go in to die, you go in to destroy your opponent. The opponent must go down. That's what I do. I go in to destroy my opponent, not just to fight. And I show no mercy. I show aggressiveness. I want to see him down. That's it."
Though he respects Cavalcante's skills and admits he's a tough draw, Silva isn't planning on taking it easy and will continue to be aggressive and come forward.
His words:
"I don't know "Feijao" very well, I have met him a couple of times. He's a nice person and a tough fighter. I respect him as a fighter, he is dangerous. But I would bet on myself. I'm here to show my work. I am here to fight and everyone knows my style. I fight hard, I fight forward and nothing will change that. I will always push the pace harder and more aggressive. That's a natural thing for me. It's what I know how to do and what I will do."
Silva has fallen on tough times inside the cage recently. Over his last four fights, he has gone 2-2, dropping bouts against Rashad Evans and Alexander Gustafsson while earning wins over Brandon Vera and Stanislav Nedkov.
His wins over "The Truth" and "Stucky," however, were short-lived as they were overturned to no contests (NC).
The "Blackzilian" team member was caught handing over a urine sample to the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) that was inconsistent with human urine after his win over Vera at UFC 125 and was subsequently suspend for a year.
He later admitted he did so because his urine would have produced a banned substance he used when dealing with back issues in preparations for the fight.
Just under two years later, Thiago was popped peeing dirty again when his UFC on FUEL TV 6 post-fight drug test proved he had marijuana metabolites in his system.
In his first fight in his home country of Brazil since Nov. 2006, Silva will look to get back on track against the former Strikeforce 205-pound champ "Feijao," who hasn't seen the inside of a cage in over a year after serving his own 12-month suspension after he too tested positive for a banned substance following his win over Mike Kyle in May of 2012.
Only one can put their troubled past behind them with an impressive victory in Brazil.
Who will it be?
MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire card on Saturday (June 8, 2013), starting with the Facebook "Prelims," which are scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. ET, as well as the main card, which is slated to air at 8 p.m. ET on FUEL TV.
For more news and notes on UFC on FUEL TV 10, click here.