5 Things You Might Not Know About Henrique da Silva

Henrique da Silva managed to creep into the Top 5 rankings in the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki light heavyweight division. Now, he must prove he belongs there.

The 34-year-old Brazilian will face Marcin Wojcik in a featured KSW 88 attraction this Saturday at RCS Hall in Radom, Poland, with both men looking up at current 205-pound champion Ibragim Chuzhigaev. Da Silva has won three of his last four bouts. However, he finds himself on the rebound following a rear-naked choke submission loss to Oumar Sy at KSW 80 in March.

As da Silva moves ever closer to his forthcoming altercation with Wojcik in Central Europe, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. His roots grew outside of his country’s population centers.

Da Silva was born on Sept. 1, 1989 in Limoeiro, Brazil—a city of 57,000 people situated some 1,500 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro. At roughly 104 square miles in area, it compares favorably to Knoxville, Tennessee, in terms of geographic size.

2. He hit the ground running in his chosen vocation.

“Frankenstein” made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 24 when he buried Jonathan Vale with first-round punches under the Gringo Super Fight banner in December 2013. Da Silva started his career with 12 consecutive victories, all of them finishes. In fact, eight of those opponents did not escape the first round against him.

3. The big leagues were not kind to him.

Da Silva signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2016 and put together a six-fight stint with the company. His wins against Jonathan Wilson and Joachim Christensen were overshadowed by losses to Paul Craig, Jordan Johnson, Ion Cutelaba and Gokhan Saki. Da Silva was released by the promotion a little more than a year later.

4. Opportunities at the sport’s highest level appear to have dried up.

The Roxo Strike Team tried and ultimately failed to reclaim his position on the UFC roster August 2018, when he appeared on Season 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series. A three-round unanimous decision loss to Johnny Walker squashed da Silva’s hopes. He owns a mediocre 5-4 record in nine outings since.

5. He struck gold in his homeland.

Da Silva captured the Pitbull Fight Championship light heavyweight title on Aug. 6, 2022, when he put away Natalicio Nascimento Filho with punches in the second round of their PFC 59 main event. He never defended the championship, choosing instead to sign with KSW.