Joe Silva is a former UFC matchmaker and a 2017 inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame. [1]
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that is owned and operated by parent company William Morris Endeavor. It is the largest MMA promotion company in the world and features the highest-level fighters on the roster. The UFC produces events worldwide that showcase twelve weight divisions and abide by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. As of 2018, the UFC has held over 400 events. Dana White serves as the president of the UFC. White has held that position since 2001; while under his stewardship, the UFC has grown into a globally popular multi-billion-dollar enterprise.
The UFC Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors mixed martial artists and MMA personalities, established and maintained by the U.S.-based mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship. In addition to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the UFC Hall of Fame recognizes accomplishments from Pride Fighting Championships, World Extreme Cagefighting and Strikeforce; all of which are former mixed martial arts promotions that have been bought-out by the UFC and its parent corporations.
Joe Silva began working for UFC in 1993 after answering an advertisement for fighters in Black Belt Magazine . [2] During his role as matchmaker, [3] he made each of the fights for the live events of UFC [4] since prior to the purchase of the UFC by the Fertitta brothers in 2000, [5] under the ownership of SEG. [6] His last official title was Vice-President of Talent Relations. [7] As a part of his job, he both signed new and fired fighters from the UFC. [8] Silva retired in September 2016 following the sale of UFC to WME-IMG, [5] after selling his UFC shares to the new owner. His final event occurred on December 30, 2016. [2] During his later career, the USA Today sports website MMA Junkie ran an article series "Joe Silva's Shoes" that speculated on what fights Silva might make for upcoming UFC events. [9] [10] In 2017, Silva was named an inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame. [1]
USA Today is an internationally distributed American daily, middle-market newspaper that serves as the flagship publication of its owner, the Gannett Company. The newspaper has a generally centrist audience. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, it operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters on Jones Branch Drive, in McLean, Virginia. It is printed at 37 sites across the United States and at five additional sites internationally. Its dynamic design influenced the style of local, regional, and national newspapers worldwide, through its use of concise reports, colorized images, informational graphics, and inclusion of popular culture stories, among other distinct features.
