Felipe Silva anxious for UFC return after ‘scared' fighters turned down fights

Felipe Silva is still unbeaten in MMA after scoring a 73-second knockout over Shane Campbell in his UFC debut last August, but he hasn’t fought since.

The lightweight talent, who finished seven opponents in eight professional wins, has called out a pair of UFC fighters in an attempt to make some noise and get a fight, but is still waiting for the promotion to call with good news.

"I called out Sage Northcutt and David Teymur, whose record is similar to mine but has a bigger name in the UFC, but we had no answers,” Silva told MMA Fighting. "I’m here to fight the best. If I have the option to choose, I’d pick the best.”

According to Silva, the UFC has offered him to three different opponents, and they all turned it down.

"It’s being hard to get a fight,” the lightweight said. "Two weeks ago, I asked my manager Lucas (Lutkus) what was going on, and he said they tried to work on three names for me, maybe for UFC 212, but they all turned down the fight.

"I know one of the names, I’d rather not say it, but he said he’s someone with a big name and fighting me wouldn’t being him anything in return, that I’m a tough fighter, but not ranked yet.”

A disappointed Silva tries to look on the bright side of every situation.

"I see that my work is being recognized in a way,” Silva said. "I kind of understand him, but at the same time I imagine that he would have taken the fight if he thought I was an easy match-up. I’m a knockout artist, and sometimes people don’t want to fight someone like me. If it’s up to me, the fight won’t get past the first round.

"I believe they fear fighting someone like me,” he continued. "I always see fights as 50-50. I might win or I might lose. But they realize I have this huge potential and I’m a risky and dangerous fight for them. I think you can say they are a little scared, yes.”

After racking up an 8-0 MMA record in a little over than three years, Silva just wants to stay active. The lightweight prospect moved full-time to Curitiba to train at CM System, and sends a message to the UFC: "if they call me on short notice, I’ll be ready."

"Not only Felipe, but Elizeu (Zaleski) is also ready,” CM System’s leader Cristiano Marcello said. "When you sign with a promotion like the UFC, you can’t turn down fights. This is the World Cup, the Olympics. I get upset when fighters turn down fights because we want to work. That delays my fighter’s career in the UFC."