‘A Whole New Chapter’ for Joshua Silveira

Joshua Silveira examined the playing field, weighed the possibilities and chose to embrace change instead of running from it.

The American Top Team export will return to the Professional Fighters League stage when his middleweight semifinal opposite Fabian Edwards headlines PFL 2025 World Tournament 7 this Friday at Winstar Arena in Chicago. Silveira, 32, was a Legacy Fighting Alliance champion and a PFL finalist as a light heavyweight but nevertheless made the move to 185 pounds.

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“As an athlete, as you grow throughout your life, you’re going to go through changes,” he told Sherdog.com. “There are different experiences. I had a body change. Some people go through a toughness change. Some people, maybe they get stronger. Maybe they go to a mental coach. For me, it was a body change. I was so used to fighting heavier being 230 pounds. I had to fill in that gap because the PFL had never offered middleweight, and if you’re going to fight for a million dollars, you would fight bigger guys, too, if you had the opportunity, so I just took my opportunity as things went. I did pretty OK in that weight class, but at 31 to 32 years old, I started changing because I knew that new weight class was coming.

“This has just been a whole new chapter,” Silveira continued. “This is kind of like Old Testament, New Testament. This is brand new, refreshing. Maybe when I was younger, I wasn’t mature enough. Maybe I was indulging too much. As a young man, you always want to indulge. Whether you eat a lot, drink a lot or get no sleep, you always want to do everything excessively. As you get older, you listen to your body. I’m a father now, as well. I’m not focusing on me, me, me all the time. Let’s focus on other things. Let’s put our attention to other places, and let’s just learn how to be a little bit more disciplined. Next thing you know, I’m training better in the gym.

“When you’re in a place like American Top Team and you have a bunch of professionals, when you have those guys coming up to you and they notice something’s happening in a positive manner, they’re going to let you know,” he added. “That’s the beauty about American Top Team. It’s just a great change. This is a new me. My stomach shrunk a little bit. My mentality is a little bit sharper. It’s refreshing.”

Edwards poses a serious threat as Silveira’s next obstacle. The Team Renegade standout twice fought for the Bellator MMA middleweight crown and holds victories over Lyoto Machida and Gegard Mousasi. Edwards last suited up at PFL 2025 World Tournament 3, where he buried Impa Kasanganay with punches in the second round of their April 18 encounter.

“I’m enjoying this ride, and to be honest, I know if I beat him, I know I could win this whole tournament,” Silveira said. “I know I could for sure win this tournament, so why not put it to the test in the semis? That way, in the finals, we really go get what we deserve. I’ll go take this guy out and put my name on the map. This is a perfect moment for me. Every fighter goes to this moment. You’ve got to capture it, or you just let it go. Not me, man. I’d rather go in there and try.”

Not one to look too far ahead, Silveira admits he has kept an eye on the other semifinal. There, his American Top Team stablemate Dalton Rosta collides with Aaron Jeffery. The possibilities are undeniably intriguing.

“Even though we might fight in the finals, I’d rather fight my friend than fight a nobody,” Silveira said. “We’ve grappled with each other a little bit, but we’ve talked about this. ‘Hey, nothing personal, but we are in a tournament. We should at least be a little secretive about our stuff. If we can find a different partner to go with, let’s find a different partner.’ There’s been no tension. When we need a partner, we look at each other and we go look for someone else. I saw him spar today. I saw him, and I actually gave him some advice, so the brotherhood’s still there.”