Former UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, suffered his first loss in over seven years when he was knocked out by Chris Weidman at UFC 162. Now four months before the rematch, Silva talked about a conversation he had with Dana White, that motivated him to finish the remaining fights on his ten fight deal.
“The first time in my life and my career I get knocked out and I’m not happy,” Silva explained. “The time I finished the fight, I’m no happy, but I go back to the hotel and three days Dana talked to me: ‘This is very important for your legacy. We need you back. We need you to go for a rematch.’ I talk to my coach, and my family. My coach say, ‘Yeah this is very important for you. They need you back. They need you to give for the fans one more fight. One more chance for the fans watching for the belt. I go to my grandmaster in Thailand,” he explained. “I go for training. I pick up back my energy, the marital arts and the new Anderson is coming. You’ll see.”
Silva is arguably one of the greatest combat athletes of all time, so it will be interesting to see how he rebounds in the rematch and his remaining fights.