LAS VEGAS — Anderson Silva’s troll game is still strong.
The greatest UFC champion of all time confirmed after UFC 183 open workouts Wednesday that he did indeed get knocked out in training earlier this month.
“Yeah,” Silva said. “Khalil [Rountree] gave me a kick in the face. Boom.”
When asked if the kick knocked him unconscious, Silva said it did.
“Yeah,” he said. “Serious. When I finish the training, I go to paintball. I shoot at Khalil. I’m the best at paintball.”
That’s then when that broad smile came over Silva’s face. He had gotten the reporters in attendance at the MGM Grand all worked up and he knew it.
After Soares told Silva “don’t say that” in Portuguese, Silva said: “I’m joking, man.”
Evidently, that was Silva’s way of pooh-poohing the internet rumors. It was also his way of pumping up Rountree, his training partner and a top prospect for RFA.
“Khalil is the next champion at 185,” Silva said.
Silva, the former UFC middleweight champion, meets Nick Diaz in the main event of UFC 183 on Saturday night in Las Vegas. He’s coming back from surgery to repair a broken left leg. In December 2013 against Chris Weidman, Silva fractured the leg going for a leg kick.
Silva, 39, was light-hearted Wednesday and put on a lengthy workout performance for the fans. The question about being knocked out in training was just another shot that Silva easily countered like so many times in his illustrious career.