PHOENIX – If life truly does imitate art, it would've been apropos had Eminem's 2002 hit "Lose Yourself" been playing in the background when rising UFC featherweight Jose Delgado received a phone call last month offering a short-notice opportunity with the potential to dramatically alter the timeline of his goals and dreams. For the record, the rapper's breakthrough anthem wasn't queued up on Delgado's playlist at that exact moment, but one can only wonder if the inspirational lyrics were floating around in his head as he weighed out his options before ultimately accepting a five-round headlining slot opposite the No. 6-ranked "Lord" Jean Silva (17-3) at Saturday's Noche UFC card (5 p.m. ET main card, Paramount+) inside the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
"Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity,To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment,Would you capture it or just let it slip away?" Delgado (12-2), a 28-year-old from the Mexican border city of Yuma, Arizona, will return to the Octagon less than two months removed from his July decision win over Austin Bashi and will enter as a near 4-to-1 betting underdog when he steps up in class considerably, on just three weeks' notice, to take on the division's most dangerous finisher for a shot at cutting the line and catapulting himself into instant title contention. bered event and UFC Fight Night is included with your subscription! Plans start as low as $8.99/month or $89.99/year! A late injury to Yair Rodriguez offered Delgado, the youngest of seven children born to hard-working parents who emigrated from Mexico to the United States in search of a better life, an opportunity to see his family name in lights on Mexican Independence Day weekend while fighting in his home state, on the outskirts of his adopted home city of Phoenix.
For a fighter like Delgado, who is 4-1 since making his UFC debut just 19 months ago, and has spent the last 18 years pouring every bit of himself into making this mixed martial arts journey a success, there was a simple refrain that echoed inside of his head when presented with the chance to fight Silva, a brash and maniacal 29-year-old from Brazil, who likely sits one win away from challenging for the UFC title. "Why not now?" Delgado told CBS Sports during a recent sitdown at the MMA Lab gym. "Why not me?" The Eminem comparison makes even more sense when you consider Delgado's girlfriend, Leslie Del Rio, whom he met as a classmate in Yuma before the two reunited in Phoenix, often makes the same recurring joke whenever she sees pictures of Delgado from their middle school days adorned in a hoodie and hat with a serious scowl.
"You look like you're having that Eminem moment every time." According to Delgado, in a way, she was unknowingly right. "I swear to you, I would think about moments like this and I was prepping for these moments back then," Delgado said. "This is a lifetime of work, this is 18 years of grinding and 18 years since I first stepped foot on the mat and realized that I want to do this for the rest of my life.
But I'm not telling you that the road was easy, I'm telling you that the road was hard. "I'm telling you that the road [included having] to break through so many mental ceilings and so many self-imposed walls. There were so many breakthroughs.
This is a spot that elevates me immediately. This is a spot that I would be foolish to say no to. I say yes to the opportunity to be great." Delgado's fighting journey began at age 10 in a Yuma gym run by former WEC title challenger Chance Farrar.
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