Things will officially get interesting when Neil Magny and Joaquim Silva square off at Fury Pro Grappling 3.
After competing relatively regularly inside the Octagon, Joaquim Silva seemed to fight few and far between. With no big wins to attach his name outside of a 2018 knockout of Jared Gordon, casual fans might not even remember the TUF Brazil 4 semifinalist very clearly.
After a 7-0 start to his career Silva would make his UFC debut. But after that debut, Silva was sidelined and held to seven fights in six years, most recently a June loss to Rick Glenn.
MAGNY POURING IT ON. ?@NeilMagny is RELENTLESS! #UFC248 pic.twitter.com/1tdbwmnrxN
— UFC (@ufc) March 8, 2020
Across the mat from Silva is Neil Magny. Fresh off a win against the always dangerous Geoff Neal, Magny has got the ranking advantage over Silva, the experience and the reach.
There are few categories that wouldn’t favor Magny in both MMA and BJJ, but does Neil Magny have the BJJ chops to go with the rest of his talents?
How spoiled are fight fans to look at Neil Magny on a grappling card and be in a position to question if he’s got BJJ chops to hang with the rest of the card, but that’s the boat we’re fortunate enough to find ourselves in.
1️⃣9️⃣ – GSP
1️⃣7️⃣ – Magny@NeilMagny is closing the gap on most welterweight wins. #UFCVegas8 pic.twitter.com/cjMfWwJ4Or— UFC (@ufc) August 30, 2020
In terms of wins in MMA bouts, Magny has a 25-9 record with three submission wins. What starts to bring his grappling into question are his four submission losses to Silva’s zero.
Magny’s BJJ brown belt is nothing to slouch at, but next to Silva’s black belt, experts and fans alike can’t help but wonder.
Would Magny be offended by all of the following statements? Unlikely. According to Fury Pro Grappling president, Rob Haydak that’s the exact reason he took the match.
I appreciate the acknowledgment boss man @danawhite hopefully the @ufc can book me a fight ASAP pic.twitter.com/Ew76Pmtq6x
— Neil Magny (@NeilMagny) December 15, 2021
“We threw a bunch of names at Neil,” Haydak said. “We’ve been talking to Neil for quite some time and he just kept saying the same thing: ‘Do you have another name? Do you have anybody a little tougher?’ Finally, Joaquim became available. His management team saw the card coming together and reached out. We presented that to Neil, and he said, ‘Now that’s an exciting matchup. I’m in.’”
Will Magny go for broke and leave himself vulnerable? Or will Silva rejuvenate his name among the casual fans? It’s tough to say. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long to find out, but with a Philadelphia grappling partner like Sean Brady helping Magny hone his skills, don’t be surprised if the brown belt comes out on top.
Catch Neil Magny vs Joaquim Silva at Fury Pro Grappling 3! The action starts Thursday, December 30, at 4:30 pm PT, ONLY on UFC FIGHT PASS!
