royyjonesjrp4pno1
02-28-2008, 11:39 AM
A fight is a fight," Silva says. "If I get through the Henderson fight with a victory and bring the belt back to my camp, then at that point in time I'll focus on the next match. There's really no time to be thinking about legacies."
How proper.
"He's just doing what he loves to do," adds Silva's manager, Ed Soares. "It's like when they ask him how he feels about being the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. The only way he'll say that is after he's retired. He could sit back and say, ‘You know what? I was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world at that point.' But until then it's hard for him to say he's the best pound-for-pound fighter."
Basically, Silva is just following the road where life took him. Ask him how he became a fighter: "It just happened." Really, he followed in the footsteps of his brother, who trained in muay Thai and had a lot of friends who fought. At about 9 years old, Silva began training in tae kwon do.
The UFC middleweight champion never expected to be where he is today. He never trained -- or, for that matter, trains -- with the goal of being the best or even being a champion.
He's not chasing glory either. He's one of those guys that Evan Tanner (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=212) (Pictures (http://www.sherdog.com/news/picture_gallery.asp?f_id=212@@Evan Tanner)) calls a "soul fighter." A fighter "who cares very little for fame, glory or money."
To a soul fighter, fighting is a search of the self -- it is a challenge. Those are soul fighters, and Silva is one.
He's not arrogant about his talent, just grateful for it.
And if there's one attribute about him that sticks out the most, it's confidence. Enough of it to one day even challenge a top boxer to a fight, and perhaps sooner than most think.
"Maybe after this fight," says Silva, who if he beats Henderson will pretty much have cleaned out the UFC's middleweight division. "I'll challenge whoever is the champion [in my weight range] in boxing."
Or, if not a champion, perhaps the boxer he respects and admires the most, Roy Jones, Jr.
A joke? Well, according to Soares, maybe not.
"Anything is possible," Soares says. "At the end of the day, that's a fight that would sell to both markets [boxing and MMA], so why not do it? Let's find a promoter that will put up the money, and lets do it! And we fight him in boxing, not MMA. His rules."
Would Silva, who has one professional boxing bout on his record (a knockout victory in the second round), stand a chance against one of boxing's all-time best? Over the hill or not?
Well, he submitted a jiu-jitsu black belt in Travis Lutter (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=4586) (Pictures (http://www.sherdog.com/news/picture_gallery.asp?f_id=4586@@Travis Lutter)), one of the best ground guys in the UFC. He outmuscled Rich Franklin (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=392) (Pictures (http://www.sherdog.com/news/picture_gallery.asp?f_id=392@@Rich Franklin)), who was supposedly the strongest fighter in the middleweight division, and he outgunned Nate Marquardt, one of the most skilled fighters in the sport.
It would have to be soon, though, since Jones is on his way out as a boxer and Silva says he plans on fighting for only three more years.
How proper.
"He's just doing what he loves to do," adds Silva's manager, Ed Soares. "It's like when they ask him how he feels about being the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. The only way he'll say that is after he's retired. He could sit back and say, ‘You know what? I was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world at that point.' But until then it's hard for him to say he's the best pound-for-pound fighter."
Basically, Silva is just following the road where life took him. Ask him how he became a fighter: "It just happened." Really, he followed in the footsteps of his brother, who trained in muay Thai and had a lot of friends who fought. At about 9 years old, Silva began training in tae kwon do.
The UFC middleweight champion never expected to be where he is today. He never trained -- or, for that matter, trains -- with the goal of being the best or even being a champion.
He's not chasing glory either. He's one of those guys that Evan Tanner (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=212) (Pictures (http://www.sherdog.com/news/picture_gallery.asp?f_id=212@@Evan Tanner)) calls a "soul fighter." A fighter "who cares very little for fame, glory or money."
To a soul fighter, fighting is a search of the self -- it is a challenge. Those are soul fighters, and Silva is one.
He's not arrogant about his talent, just grateful for it.
And if there's one attribute about him that sticks out the most, it's confidence. Enough of it to one day even challenge a top boxer to a fight, and perhaps sooner than most think.
"Maybe after this fight," says Silva, who if he beats Henderson will pretty much have cleaned out the UFC's middleweight division. "I'll challenge whoever is the champion [in my weight range] in boxing."
Or, if not a champion, perhaps the boxer he respects and admires the most, Roy Jones, Jr.
A joke? Well, according to Soares, maybe not.
"Anything is possible," Soares says. "At the end of the day, that's a fight that would sell to both markets [boxing and MMA], so why not do it? Let's find a promoter that will put up the money, and lets do it! And we fight him in boxing, not MMA. His rules."
Would Silva, who has one professional boxing bout on his record (a knockout victory in the second round), stand a chance against one of boxing's all-time best? Over the hill or not?
Well, he submitted a jiu-jitsu black belt in Travis Lutter (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=4586) (Pictures (http://www.sherdog.com/news/picture_gallery.asp?f_id=4586@@Travis Lutter)), one of the best ground guys in the UFC. He outmuscled Rich Franklin (http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=392) (Pictures (http://www.sherdog.com/news/picture_gallery.asp?f_id=392@@Rich Franklin)), who was supposedly the strongest fighter in the middleweight division, and he outgunned Nate Marquardt, one of the most skilled fighters in the sport.
It would have to be soon, though, since Jones is on his way out as a boxer and Silva says he plans on fighting for only three more years.