Another CW alumni has received the call they’ve dreamed about since childhood; the opportunity to compete in front of UFC’s head honchos on Dana White’s Contender Series, with a shot at the big time on the line! This time it’s the turn of current Cage Warriors lightweight kingpin Samuel ‘Caveira’ Silva; the man who walked into London as a relative unknown, and walked out a world champion!
‘Caveira’ (meaning ‘Skull’ in Portuguese) exploded into CW universe in March of this year, pencilled in as the next challenger to lightweight king George Hardwick’s 155lb title on just a week’s notice.
After the challenger scraped a nip-and-tuck first frame, it looked like the champ was settling in as he took the following two rounds. To the amazement of the capacity crowd and those watching around the world on UFC Fight Pass though, the +400 underdog rallied to take both the championship rounds on all three scorecards.
And just like that, a new champion was crowded as one of the promotion’s most legendary reigns came to an end.
“Hey Dana…Sean Shelby…Hunter…look at me now! Look at me now! Champion of the world!”…yelled a clearly emotional Silva as he exited the cage following his triumphant victory. “Look at me brother, give me my chance! Tomorrow, UFC London? Let’s go, no problem! Are you ready?”
It didn’t come quite as quickly as the following day’s UFC London card but eventually the phone did ring, making Silva the next in a long line of athletes to make the jump from Cage Warriors into the UFC ecosystem!
Fans can catch Samuel Silva’s DWCS bout on Tuesday, September 7th – Week 4 of the Contender Series – live on UFC Fight Pass!