Kings MMA Leader Praises New Student Erick Silva, Updates on UFC Champ Fabricio Werdum

Following a few up-and-down years inside the Octagon, Erick Silva decided it was time to make some radical changes in his life.

Late last year, the UFC welterweight relocated from Rio de Janeiro to Los Angeles, leaving his longtime home at X-Gym to join Kings MMA.

Silva has been training alongside fellow UFC stars Rafael dos Anjos, Mauricio Rua and Lyoto Machida in preparation for his UFC 196 fight against Nordine Taleb, which takes place this Saturday in Las Vegas. Kings MMA leader Rafael Cordeiro spoke with Sherdog.com about his impressions of Silva.

“He is such a dedicated kid who is being really responsible, training hard every day and always asking what he should do next,” Cordeiro told Sherdog.com. “His first camp with us was excellent. He didn’t get hurt and he finished camp doing hard sparring with Rafael dos Anjos, ‘Shogun’ and Lyoto. What can I say about someone doing hard sparring with these three guys? Definitely, he’s ready.

“Besides being ready, he’s going to the fight happy, which is the most important part.”

Cordeiro said that Silva fit right in with his new teammates upon his arrival at the Southern California gym.

“He was pretty welcomed by the group and it was good to see how they helped each other,” he noted. “That was a strong point. I could feel that other fighters got happy to see him evolving.”

Cordeiro also spoke about another of his students, UFC heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum, who will defend his belt against Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 198. The event takes place May 14 in Curitiba, Brazil, the birthplace of Cordeiro and the legendary Chute Boxe camp.

“Having a title fight in the first UFC event in the place where I have my roots, it’s an emotion that’s hard to explain,” said Cordeiro. “The cheering in Curitiba is different from anything UFC has ever seen. I bet the crowd will fill up the stadium and scream a lot for Werdum, who will bring a lot of support from Rio Grande do Sul, too.

“Actually, Werdum also trained and lived in Curitiba for a couple of years when he trained with us at Chute Boxe, and he has a lot of fans there, too. Werdum is so motivated for that fight.”

Cordeiro told Sherdog.com that “Vai Cavalo” is just now returning to training, still on the mend from the back injury which took him out of his previously scheduled meeting with Miocic.

“We started this week, slowly,” said Cordeiro. “He’s in the final stage of treatment to recover from his back injury, but be sure that in May, he’ll be in the best shape of his life and ready to keep the heavyweight belt.”