Josh Silveira uses painful loss to Impa Kasanganay as fuel for PFL 8 rematch

Josh Silveira is looking for revenge, a belt, and a $1 million check in the 2024 PFL light heavyweight playoffs.

The son of American Top Team head coach Conan Silveira goes toe-to-toe with the man who beat him for the light heavyweight title in the 2023 season, Impa Kasanganay, at Friday’s PFL 8 card in Hollywood, Fla. Silveira vows to be “a whole new Joshua” in the semifinal match.

“I’m going to beat that guy, that’s for sure,” Silveira told MMA Fighting. “I’ve learned a lot from that fight. Unfortunately I lost in a crucial moment, a million [dollars on the line], the belt, but that’s part of fighting. Impa has experienced a bad loss in the UFC, he was cut, so he felt that pain before. He didn’t want to feel that pain again that night, you know? It was my time to feel that pain and I’ve learned a lot. And now I’m fighting as a fighter who has felt that pain and won’t let it happen again.”

The unanimous decision setback against Kasanganay in the 2023 finale wasn’t Silveira’s first MMA loss, but he says his 2022 defeat to teammate Omari Akhmedov felt “quite weird,” so it didn’t hurt like the one to Kasanganay.

“I didn’t have much chance to hit [Kasanganay] in the fight,” Silveira said. “I think I felt the pressure of the moment and that got me tired, and he did a good job. But thank God we’re here again, and I’ll be able to fight someone that has defeated me, which doesn’t happen very often in MMA. And it will be very different this time around.

“[Losing] is part of the sport. No champion, except Khabib [Nurmagomedov], ends a career like that [undefeated]. Losing is part of the game. We have to learn from it and train to make sure it’s a different result in the next fight.”

Kasanganay remains undefeated in the PFL season and playoff matches, losing only a split decision when he fought Johnny Eblen in a champion vs. champion match between PFL and Bellator titleholders. The UFC veteran stopped Alex Polizzi and Jakob Nedoh in the 2024 regular season, and Silveira promises an aggressive game plan Friday.

“You’re going to see a man with attitude, a man who doesn’t accept what happened last time,” Silveira said. “I’d rather get the KO or get knocked out, but I’ll have to try. That’s how I’ll fight. Last time we fought there was too much pressure, and it didn’t work out. This time, I’ll embrace everything I’m feeling and go in there to beat that guy.”

Silveira won the first fight of the 2024 season after Sadibou Sy suffered an injury 74 seconds into the match in April, then lost a split decision to Rob Wilkinson two months later. Silveira had enough points to advance to the playoffs, and saw Wilkinson advance to the other side of the brackets against fellow ATT fighter Dovlet Yagshimuradov.

Silveira hopes his teammate Yagshimuradov makes it to the final as well, but admits it would be sweeter to claim the PFL title by avenging two defeats.

“I feel like I won that fight, but that’s something we can’t control,” Silveira said of the Wilkinson loss. “I feel like I was the aggressor. He’s a boxer who knocks everybody out, but he became a grappler that night, and I wasn’t expecting that. I was the one trying to finish the fight. When I lost that fight, I didn’t feel that pain. I was thankful for making it to the playoffs so I didn’t think too much about the loss. I know I fought well against a tough guy, and to rematch him and Impa would make it a nice story, beating two guys that have defeated me. I would like to beat Wilkinson again just to show the world that I won that fight.”