The mixed martial arts community is mourning the loss of former UFC fighter Jay Silva, who has died at the age of 45. News of Silva’s passing was announced on Monday, June 1, by Fame MMA, the Poland-based promotion where he made his final appearances in professional combat sports. A cause of death has not been disclosed.
Silva passed away on May 31, just days after his 45th birthday. According to MMA Mania, Silva, known to fans as “Da Spyda Killa,” competed in 27 professional MMA bouts over an 18-year career that took him across some of the sport’s biggest organizations.
Born in Luanda, Angola, and later fighting out of Huntington Beach, California, Silva built a reputation as a durable and fearless competitor willing to take on elite opposition. He first entered the professional ranks in 2008 after developing a passion for mixed martial arts through The Ultimate Fighter.
A Grapplers Quest champion and Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt, Silva quickly climbed the regional scene before earning a call-up to the UFC in 2009.
His UFC run included appearances against notable middleweights C.B. Dollaway and Chris Leben. While Silva came up short in both outings, those fights marked only a small chapter in a career that saw him compete against a long list of recognizable names.
After leaving the UFC, he shared the cage with fighters including Hector Lombard, Kendall Grove, Sam Alvey, and Mariusz Pudzianowski.
One of the defining stretches of Silva’s career came in Poland, where he became a fan favorite under the KSW banner. He twice fought for the promotion’s middleweight championship and earned a memorable knockout victory over Michał Materla in their 2013 rematch. That win remains one of the most notable results on his resumé.
Silva’s final MMA appearance came on April 5, 2025, when he faced Denis Labryga under the Fame MMA banner. Though the bout ended in a unanimous decision loss, it capped a career that spanned nearly two decades and multiple continents.
