Middleweight Jared Cannonier will be in a doubly uncomfortable position when he walks out front of the crowd at Rio de Janeiro’s Jeunesse Arena for UFC 237 next month.

First off, he’s the outsider coming in against one of their own. And while that alone would probably be enough to earn him a boo or two, he’s got one pretty significant aggravating factor: He’s not just facing any local guy, but THE local guy in former UFC champion and Brazilian sports superstar Anderson Silva.

Even Cannonier, who’s very confident in his ability to keep his focus on the task at hand, can admit that the notoriously loud Brazilian crowd will be a factor when he meets Silva on May 11. But there’s a difference between being aware and being worried.

And not only is Cannonier not worried – he’s looking forward to it.

“I’m actually excited to be doing this, going into enemy territory, in a place that’s infamous for their undying support for their heroes,” Cannonier told MMA Junkie ahead of the main card pay-per-view bout. “But that’s fine. I’m interested to see how they receive me, to be honest. Are they going to be like, ‘Anderson’s going to kick your ass,’ are they going to be like ‘We hate you, get the hell out of Brazil, we want to see you get your ass kicked.’

“Are they going to be like, ‘We respect you, we’re fans of you, we love how you carry yourself, but Anderson’s going to win?’ Are they’re just going to want to see a really good fight? Either way, they’re going to see a good fight. Whether they love me, whether they hate or whether they’re neutral, it’s going to be a really good fight. After the fact, they’re going to cheer for both of us.”

Geographical location, however, is just one of the many ways in which Cannonier (11-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) and Silva’s (34-8 MMA, 17-5 UFC) positions vary going into the middleweight match.

Although Cannonier has the momentum, having recently kicked off his middleweight run with a win over David Branch, Silva is the bigger name here – much like he’d be against the vast majority of the UFC’s roster. Despite Silva’s current stretch, which features a single win in his most recent seven bouts, he remains a fixture in G.O.A.T. conversations and a massive icon in Brazil.

Considering it’s been almost seven years since Silva fought in Rio, a city that for many years he called home, the ex-champ will certainly claim a lot of the spotlight through UFC 237’s fight week.

Most fighters won’t complain about getting some extra love, of course, but there’s another side of it. For all the support that being the center of attention brings, it also comes with the type of scrutiny and fight week obligations that Cannonier likely won’t have

Cannonier, for his part, acknowledges there is a possibility that this may end up playing to his favor. But he’s not counting on it.

“Anderson has been at the top of the game for so long, he’s had to do media stuff for so long,” Cannonier said. “And I’m sure he’s used to it, I’m sure he’s able to brush a lot of this stuff off and continue to do his job. So I’m not banking on that.”

For the most part, though, he isn’t exactly spending too much energy on how things are going to play out for Silva. From the moment Cannonier signs that bout agreement, it becomes about his own preparation and gameplan, and not about what the other name on the contract has to offer. Regardless of how big that name is.

For that reason, Cannonier’s approach to fighting “The Spider” has looked a bit different than that of some of their peers. Take Silva’s most recent opponent, for instance; despite being the unbeaten talent and massive favorite going into their UFC 234 bout, Israel Adesanya repeatedly revered Silva as one of his idols and didn’t hold back when it came to putting the significance of the encounter into perspective.

Of course, “The Killa Gorilla” is aware of Silva’s resume and of the fact that he’s an experienced, high-caliber foe. But that was just the icing on the cake for Cannonier, who was mostly just glad to have a fight after an original offer to fight Ronaldo Souza fell through.

“I have to approach him as an opponent, as opposed to seeing him for all the things he’s done,” Cannonier said.

Although Silva’s time at the top ended when he ran into fellow ex-champ Chris Weidman, that was only after years of presenting an apparently unsolvable puzzle in the cage. Silva has shown the path to beating him by now, but the word “legend” still carries weight and even the most seemingly focused fighters can see themselves inadvertently succumbing to it come crunch time.

Cannonier, however, is confident he won’t have that problem.

“People can’t really affect how I feel, how I approach things,” Cannonier said. “All the things he’s done, I’m not afraid of anything that he’s capable of doing. I’ve already accepted that fact. I already signed on the dotted line. I already know what he can do. I’m sure he’s aware of some of the things that I can do. For me, I can’t go in there thinking about other things. If I’m thinking about what he’s done and how big a name he is, then that’s just me making him bigger than myself. And, from my perspective, there’s nothing bigger than me.

“That’s generally how I approach it. I don’t want any distractions. I have a specific goal, I’ve already visualized it, I already know what I want and I’ve got to do my best to make that happen. And if it doesn’t happen, again, I’ve already accepted that.

“We can already expect somebody’s going to win and somebody’s going to lose. Whether it’s me or not, it’s second to the fact that I love my job and I’m happy that I’m able to do this. I’m ready to be in there with the biggest name in the world.”

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