Drew Dober (27-13) is looking to make the most of an unusual withdrawal from his next opponent, Jean Silva (13-2).
Silva will move up a weight class to replace Mike Davis at short notice to face Dober at lightweight in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 59. It will mark a quick two-week return for Silva, who knocked out Charles Jourdan at UFC 303 on June 29 but missed the weigh-in for that bout.
In addition to his near-perfect finishing rate, Silva is also known for his unusually long exits, lasting nearly five minutes. Dober was the second to leave, waiting in the tunnel while Silva made his way to the Octagon. But Dober believes his long exit time could put Silva at a disadvantage at UFC Denver. Despite getting his start in Denver as an early fighter, Dober will be fighting in Denver this weekend for the first time under the UFC banner. Dober argues that the longer he waits in the tunnel for Silva to leave, the more fuel he’ll get from the enthusiasm of the home crowd.
“It’s nothing new for me. I fought Rafael Alves and he had a long absence,” Dober told MMAjunkie.com. “You just have to savor the moment and he’s giving me a lot of moments. I just enjoy every second of it… What I love, and this might be a disadvantage for Silva, is when I’m in the pit, I finally get to see the crowd, the lights, the energy. I was pulled out of the locker room and now I’m in front of my hometown crowd in Denver, Colorado. So the longer I’m out there, the more motivation I get. We’re bringing the heat.”
Dober is tied with Dustin Poirier for the most knockouts in UFC lightweight history (9), but after going 1-2 in his last three fights and losing a unanimous decision to Renato Carneiro, Dober isn’t looking to add to that tally.
“The thing is, when I got the record I didn’t even think about it and the minute I started thinking about it my performance dropped,” he said, “So I stopped thinking about it. The knockout record is great and I’m tied for the guillotine record, so this is what people tell me after the fact. I’m just going to go in there and do my thing.”
