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Q AND A WITH ANDERSON SILVA |
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On Saturday October 14, Anderson Silva will chase immortality when he takes on Rich Franklin for the UFC Middleweight Championship of the world. After only one fight in the UFC, Anderson struck fear in the heart of the division with a 49-second destruction of heavy-handed, granite-chinned contender Chris Leben. This Saturday Anderson will attempt to add his name to a long list of Brazilian MMA legends. In this FightBeat exclusive the humble yet confident Anderson (who may be the best striker in MMA, but is a great grappler as well) gives his thoughts on this weekend’s potential fight of the year and much much more.
FightBeat: What's up Anderson? Welcome to fightbeat.com.
Anderson Silva: Thank you for having me.
FB: This Saturday you’re in the main event, fighting for the UFC
Middleweight Championship of the World against Rich Franklin. Is this the biggest fight of your career?
AS: Every fight in my career is my biggest fight at that point. I prepare
for every fight the same. I train hard whether it's for the belt or not.
FB: Give us your thoughts on Rich as a fighter? What do you see as his
strengths and weaknesses?
AS: Everyone has strengths and everyone has weaknesses. Rich Franklin is a
complete fighter and I respect him as a champion. Fighting is like a chess
game; if you move the wrong piece you’re going down.
FB: Rich has one loss in his MMA career, a TKO from punches from Lyoto
Machida. He is undefeated in the UFC and only one of his fights has gone
the distance. How do you see this fight ending?
AS: Well, I'm going to hit him and he's going to hit me and someone's going
to win. I'm not one for predictions. He's the champ and the pressure is on
him. I'm just going to go in there and do my job. 
FB: Prior to your fight with Chris Leben, he had a reputation for having a good chin. Were you surprised you were able to take him out so easily?
AS: The result of that fight was just an award for all my hard training. He made a mistake and dropped his hands, and I took advantage of it. I'm not going to say I was surprised, I mean I always go in there expecting a war. But if I go in there and do something and it works, that's just how it goes, it just happened to be my night.
FB: Two of the top contenders in the middleweight division squared off at UFC 63. What was your impression of Swick v. Loiseau? How do you view them as potential future opponents?
AS: I didn't watch the fight. I haven't seen Loiseau fight in a long time. I have never really paid attention to Mike Swick. Nothing personal against them. I didn't even watch Rich's last fight with Loiseau.
FB: What was your reaction to Acelino Frietas’ recent announcement of his
retirement?
AS: He won three or four tittles. He had a lot of success. Fighters know
when it's time for them to retire.
FB: In 2004 Acelino quit in a fight against Diego Corrales, like Roberto
Duran quit against Sugar Ray Leonard in their famous "no mas" fight in 1980. Duran took a lot of shit from that fight, including being temporarily thrown in jail when he returned to Panama. What was the reaction in Brazil to Frietas quitting?
AS: I don't really remember. But as far as I can remember, he has always
been a big fan-favorite in Brazil. Look, the fighter is the only one in the
ring, and a fighter knows what he has to do, and sometimes it's not always
what the public wants, but they are not the one in there fighting.
FB: Two of your countrymen and past and current training partner's lost in the semifinals of Pride’s Grand Prix. Give us your thoughts on Nogueira's close loss to Josh Barnett, and the one-round destruction of Wanderlei Silva at the hands of Cro Cop.
AS: In my opinion, Minotauro (Antonio Nogueira's nickname) won that fight. As
far as Wanderlei goes, it wasn't his fight that night. This can happen to
anybody and it just wasn't his night.
FB: Rank the most famous fighters in Brazil between Acelino “Popo” Frietas, Royce Gracie, Wanderlei Silva?
AS: That’s a tough question. Let me think. I would say Popo, Royce
Gracie, and then Wanderlei Silva.
FB: You have a unique perspective because you have fought in Pride and the UFC. This next question is maybe the most debated among MMA fans. Who has the better overall stock of fighters, the UFC or Pride?
AS: Both organizations have tough fighters, and anyone of these fighters can
win or lose to one another on a given day. I think this is a bad question.
FB: Yeah, only because you fight for the UFC!
AS: No, no not just because I'm with the UFC. It's just really both organizations have tough fighters. You know that's like saying in the 205 weight class, who’s going to win: Chuck Liddell or Wanderlei Silva? Half the people are going to say Chuck and the other half are going to say Wanderlei. It is true that on any given day anyone can win. Both organizations have the best fighters in the world; it just matters on which night.
FB: Which organization pays better?
AS: Depends on who you are.
JB: Which organization paid you better?
AS: Look I don't want to throw anyone under the bus. I'm not going to
answer this question.
FB: In a recent interview I did with Rashad Evans he told me he shared a
dressing room with you before your fight with Chris Leben. He said he was amazed at how relaxed you were, and that while he was jumping around trying to get his core temperature up, you were sleeping. Fighting is a very stressful job for most fighters. How do you manage to stay so relaxed?
AS: I have been fighting since I was fourteen. So for me it's just another day at the office. It is just what I do.
FB: I hear you are a big Michael Jackson fan. Is it of his singing, dancing or both?
AS: I used to come out to his music during my ring entrance, but this is not
a good thing in America. But I am a fan of both his dancing and his
singing.
FB: Fightbeat would like to thank you for your time. Is there anything you would like to say in closing?
AS: Yes, I would like to thank the sponsors that have been supporting me
through this fight. Fantasyfightclub.com, NOGI, Xyience, ATM Networks, and
Sinisterbrand.com. I would also like to thank the UFC for the opportunity,
and I hope everybody tunes in this Saturday and watches me fight Rich
Franklin, because it's going to be the most exciting fight of the night.
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| | Comments | |
| | floydfan: This is one of the biggest interviews you can get in mma right now. thanks for the interview fightbeat things are on the up here | |
| | Xplosive: Looks like you make up for your lack of writing talent by swearing. | |
| | TheCharibofJustice: You get a chance to interview Silva before the big fight and you ask the guy about Michael Jackson?
Not really stepping up to the plate when given an opportunity Jonathan. | |
| | KID: I think Jonathan did a good job of mixing up his questions and giving us a lot of sides to Anderson. Good Job! | |
| | Andrew: Where is the swearing? | |
| | Tito: I personally like the swearing; it adds realism to the conversation. Michael Jackson wrote Thriller people, c'mon! | |
| | TheCubanHawk: Its hard to read this writers writing style.Its annoying and obnoxious. | |
| | joe: there was one swear word in the whole thing and it was in context I don't see what the problem is? | |
| | bob: I heard anderson doesn't speak english so this was probally a hard interview to do. i thought he did good. What other questions was he suppose to ask? | |
| | RT: This was a very well rounded interview. I'm tired of always reading interviews that don't go past the up comming fight. I thought it was refreshing to learn a little bit more about Silva. Good Job! | |
| | Kaliber44: It sounded like anderson was getting annoyed with this guy as well as the reader. | |
| | Xplosive: Well downtown i'm glad the boxing is so important in this mma interview. | |
| | Chuck: Anderson is a world champion!! I hope there is a follow up interview | |
| | downtown: It sounds like the writer knows more about boxing than the fighter himself. Also, Anderson doesn't speak english, so it was probably hard on both parts and it still came out well. I'm impressed... | |
| | nasty foe: Anderson Silva sounds like a classy guy. He even answered the Michael Jackson question despite acknowledging that MJ is not currently in particularly good standing in America at this time. | |
| | Barrys: The writer has a "wild side" of his own. Nice. | |
