Jean Silva responds to Jose Delgado calling him coward ahead of Noche UFC

Jean Silva is aware of the comments Jose Delgado has been making in the lead-up to Noche UFC.

Silva (17-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) headlines Saturday's UFC Fight Night 288 (Paramount+), which takes place at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz., opposite Delgado (12-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC). In this buildup, Delgado has made some pretty bold claims, claiming he'll put down Silva, while also calling him a coward. Silva seems to want to take a different approach than Delgado. He'll let him do his talking, but come fight night, he plans to make him eat his words.

"As they say in Brazil, 'Say good things, say bad things, say something about me. It don't matter,'" Silva said in Portuguese through a translator in an interview with MMA Junkie. "The last guy who said the things he's saying, who said he'd put me down like a dog, he ended up sleeping on the mat, so some practice."

Silva was originally scheduled to fight Yair Rodriguez at Noche UFC. Unfortunately, Rodriguez suffered an injury and was ruled out of the fight. Delgado stepped in as a replacement. From the outside, Silva looks like he definitely lost a higher-level opportunity, given Rodriguez's name and status as a former interim champion. But for Silva, he's just happy that he gets to fight.

"I'm an athlete. I'm ready to fight," Silva said. "The people who have to worry about this are my coaches, the matchmakers, my manager, Ivan, and everybody else. Those are the people that have to re-align expectations and re-route the course. I'll be ready to fight. He's No. 12 in the rankings. It could've been a guy who just came in the UFC and I'd be ready to go. For me, it doesn't change the opponent. I'm there to fight, and I'm going to fight."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jean Silva responds to Jose Delgado calling him 'coward' ahead of Noche UFC