"I want to prove I can beat him" - Adrian Mattheis wants a convincing win over Alex Silva

Winners usually don’t get a chance at redemption, but Adrian Mattheis wants his shot.

Mattheis, despite winning the first fight, is more than excited to have another go-around against his fighting inspiration Alex Silva. They're set to collide again at ONE 158: Tawanchai vs. Larsen on Friday, June 3 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The two strawweight contenders first met in March this year, with Mattheis taking a technical knockout win in the second round following a scary right straight at the start of the round.

Silva, however, protested the result vehemently and told the referee that he was fit to continue.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Mattheis said he understood Silva’s disappointment with the result and he’d do the same if he was ever put in the same situation.

Adrian Mattheis said:

“For me personally, I would of course protest it if I were in his position. He thought that he was not out, so why was the match stopped? But the referee saw it my way.”

Nevertheless, Mattheis is more than happy to get into a rematch against the former ONE strawweight world champion.

"I’m fighting my idol once again. I can’t say which way the fight is going to be finished, but I want to prove I can beat him. I want to say, because he didn’t accept his loss, then I’ll prove myself with this one, so the world can see.”

The victory was certainly Mattheis’ biggest in his ONE Championship tenure and the win marked his fifth in six matches. Of those five wins, three were knockouts, while the other two were submissions.

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Adrian Mattheis feels the stoppage was justified

While he can sympathize with Silva, ‘Papua Badboy’ remarked that the stoppage was justified and that he earned the victory over the former ONE strawweight world champion.

Mattheis landed a cracking right straight mere seconds into the second round and followed it up with a couple more hammer fists before the referee pushed him away to stop the fight.

“Silva was already out. I knocked him out with the first blow, and I gave him more hammer fists on the ground. When I hit him, I saw the whites of his eyes, and I went to capitalize on that. I got him with two hammer fists on the ground. When I went in for the third, the ref pulled me off when Silva went for my leg,” said Adrian Mattheis.

He added that he can take an even better win in their rematch and prove to the public that he’s indeed cut for the top of the strawweight division.

“I know that a lot of people want to see if I am the real deal. I want to prove that I’m that good and put to rest the arguments. So I’ll go and do my best. The rest is up to God.”