Drew Dober: Jean Silva’s Long Walkout Might Work Against Him at UFC Denver

Drew Dober (27-13) is looking to make the most out of upcoming opponent Jean Silva ’s (13-2) unusual walkout.

Silva will step up a weight class to replace Mike Davis for a short-notice lightweight clash against Dober in the co-main event at UFC on ESPN 59 on Saturday. It will also be a quick turnaround of two weeks for Silva, who brutally knocked out Charles Jourdain at UFC 303 on June 29 but missed weight for the fight.

In addition to his nearly perfect finishing rate, Silva is also known for a bizarrely long walkout that approaches five minutes in length. Dober will be walking out second and waiting in the tunnel while Silva takes his time on his way to the Octagon. However, Dober believes Silva might end up at a disadvantage at UFC Denver because of the long walkout. Despite having started his early fighting career in Denver, Dober will be fighting in the city under the UFC banner for the first time this weekend. Dober claims he will draw more motivation from the home crowd energy the longer he waits in the tunnel for Silva’s walkout.

“It’s not new to me. I fought Rafael Alves , and he had a long walkout as well,” Dober told MMAjunkie.com . “When you take in the moments, he’s gonna give me a lot of moments to take in, and I’m just gonna enjoy every second to minute of it… What I love, and this might be a disadvantage to Silva, when I’m in that pit, I finally get to see the crowd, the lights, the energy. You pulled me from the locker room, and now I’m in front of the home crowd at Denver, Colorado. And so the longer I’m there, the more motivated I become. We’re bringing in some heat.”

Dober is tied with Dustin Poirier for the most knockouts in UFC lightweight history (nine). However, currently 1-2 in his last three and coming off a unanimous decision loss against Renato Carneiro , Dober isn’t thinking of extending his knockout record.

“Thing is, I received that record not even thinking about it and the moment I started thinking about it, my performances kind of dipped,” he said. “So, no, I stopped thinking about it. Knockout record is great, we’re also tied for a guillotine record So these are the things that you guys tell me after the fact. I get in there and I just do me.”