Antonio Silva is trying to push a lot of important thoughts out of his mind ahead of what is arguably the most crucial contest of his career against Roy Nelson at UFC Fight Night 95.

Silva (19-9-1 MMA, 3-6-1 UFC) has participated in more noteworthy fights over the years, upsetting top-stars such as Fedor Emelianenko and Alistair Overeem, and challenging for the UFC heavyweight title. However, the fight with Nelson (21-13 MMA, 8-9 UFC) comes during a 1-5-1 stretch for Silva. Another loss could be the official deathblow to his status as a UFC-worthy heavyweight.

Moreover, the recent losses haven’t been free of punishment. “Bigfoot” has been knocked out in the first round of his past seven defeats, with the latest in that stretch being a 16-second finish at the hands of Stefan Struve at UFC Fight Night 87 in May.

All of this seems to be leading to a not-so-happy ending for the 37-year-old, but Silva refuses to acknowledge concerns he’s taken too much damage inside the octagon or should consider retirement from the sport. Instead, he said he’s blocking those topics from his mind and remaining dedicated to the notion he can turn it all around.

“I don’t think about that because if I think about that, about retiring, about maybe being released, it takes my mind away from the fight and my performance,” Silva told MMAjunkie through an interpreter. “I don’t want to think about that any more because it was bad. I’m thinking about fighting against Roy Nelson. Every fight no matter what situation you are, you have pressure. I always feel the pressure and feel obligated to win. Four fights ago I feel the same way and that’s why I train hard to fight every time.”

UFC Fight Night 95 takes place Saturday at Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil. The card airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Not only does Silva have to ignore the discussion and speculation about the current state of his career going into the fight, he also has to push feelings aside about his opponent. Silva said he considers Nelson a friend and was hoping they would never cross paths in the octagon. The pair was scheduled to fight once before at UFC 146 in May 2012, but the matchup ultimately fell apart and wasn’t immediately rebooked.

Silva has trained with Nelson, No. 15 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, in the past, and admits he was reluctant to take the fight against “Big Country.” However, he said he’s aware he doesn’t have much power or influence over matchmaking considering his situation, so he had to go forward.

“I wanted (to fight Nelson) back in 2012 but then we became friends,” Silva said. “We are going to fight because we work for the UFC, but if I could choose I would like to fight another fighter and not him. My motivation is the same because I love to fight. Once the octagon is closed it ends our relationship, but once the fight is done we’ll be friends again. I’m still motivated to fight.”

What should also motivate Silva going into the crossroads matchup is the fact he gets to fight in his backyard. Silva was born in Brasilia and for the second time in his UFC tenure will have the chance to compete in front of his hometown crowd. He’s aiming for it to go better than last time, though, because when the UFC visited the city for UFC Fight Night 51 in September 2014, Silva was knocked out in the first round by former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.

“The crowd here is special and usually I would say I’m going to go for all or nothing, but this time I am going for all or all,” Silva said. “I trained with Roy Nelson before the fight against Overeem. I know his trends, what he’s good at. We know each other well, but that’s why I did some different things this time, so I can surprise Roy Nelson.”

Beating Nelson, who will also enter UFC Fight Night 95 with just two wins in his past eight fights, wouldn’t represent a reemergence for Silva in the heavyweight division. However, it would show he can still overcome worthwhile competition, something Silva hasn’t proven capable in the nearly four years since his knockout of Overeem at UFC 156.

Win or lose, observers of the sport might consider Silva to be on his last legs, but he said he doesn’t see it that way. He looks at a fighter like Dan Henderson, who at 46 will challenge Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight title at next month’s UFC 204 event, and sees inspiration for what’s possible despite the rough patch in his career.

“Dan Henderson is 46 years old and knocking out younger fighters than him and is going to fight for the belt now,” Silva said. “I still enjoy fighting so retirement doesn’t cross my mind. I don’t care how I win I just want to win. That’s my prediction. I just want to win.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 95, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.