It’s been almost three weeks since Anderson Silva’s epic reign as the UFC’s middleweight champion came to an end.
That end came by way of one of the most bizarre knockouts we’ve seen in MMA at the hands of Chris Weidman.
Since then, Silva has been in recrimination mode. He appeared on Brazilian TV in tears and promised the world a different Silva when the pair are to have a rematch later in the year.
Those promises are pinned on an honest assessment of what went wrong for the former champ at UFC 162. He spoke to Brazilian late-night talk show Agora é Tarde, per ESPN, breaking down the entire fight.
“Getting knocked out is the worst,” Silva said “There are always going to be questions — people want to know what happened, but [when you’re knocked out] you don’t remember anything. You black out and that’s it.”
Silva explained his technical mistakes in the fight, including standing too parallel to Weidman instead of stepping back on one foot. That might be an understatement considering Silva’s “antics” in the fight.
While the first round was closely contested, in the second, the Brazilian stood square on with Weidman, his hands down by his side, taunting his opponent to hit him like a used cars Oklahoma City salesman.
Of course this is nothing new from Silva, and we’ve seen this behaviour before—such as during his fight against Demian Maia. In many ways, this is a tactic he employs to get into the head of his opponent, but against Weidman, it left him flat on his back with only the referee standing in between him and a Weidman onslaught.
“Several factors led to the knockout. The tension in the air before the fight, you just want to burst … it was a series of mistakes… In my career, I’ve always went back to my corner [for advice]… Against Weidman, I went back to argue, and I should have gone back to my corner and calmed down. I didn’t do any of that; I lost control.”
As for the taunts and antics in the fight, Silva said that he was merely trying to entice Weidman into a more “fan-friendly” fight.
“Because standing up is much cooler than fighting on the floor,” Silva said.
Silva and Weidman are due to fight again for the 185-pound title at UFC 168 scheduled for December 28.
The Brazilian still has 10 fights left on his contract, which he intends to see out.
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