Kevin Vallejos seeks revenge on Jean Silva for 2023 DWCS loss

LAS VEGAS – Kevin Vallejos is officially a UFC fighter, and he has one name on his hit list as he enters his new promotion.

The Argentine featherweight earned a UFC contract on Tuesday after picking up a TKO win over Cam Teague at Dana White’s Contender Series 73. This was his second appearance on DWCS, as he had fought and lost to Jean Silva in last year’s edition of the show.

Vallejos (14-1) is willing to fight whoever the UFC puts in front of him, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t want to avenge his most recent defeat.

“This is the company I work for, so I’ll be ready for whenever they call me,” Vallejos said. “I obviously have my objectives, like getting my revenge, which I want, but everything in its time. I need to keep working, I need to keep climbing, but I do want a rematch.”

After losing to Silva, Vallejos won two in a row to earn himself another shot at DWCS. He wants to make clear that there’s no ill will towards the Brazilian. It’s just competition.

“Jean Silva has three consecutive wins, and one win wasn’t even in his weight class,” Vallejos said. “He’s a very dangerous guy, very strong, and I’m proud I lost to someone like that. Obviously, when I lost I was angry, and I was upset to see him debut because I was thinking that should’ve been my spot. But today, I have no anger towards him, and I’ve actually spoken to him and congratulated him on his fights. The revenge is just a splinter that I still have and something personal about honor, that’s it.

“I’m not angry at him. I’m thankful that he beat me and that he showed me that I was missing something. That’s why today I’m here. Today, I came here, and I won a contract and this is thanks to losing and realizing everything that I was missing. Losing to Jean Silva was a positive thing.”