Antonio Silva is still disappointed about his performance at UFC Fight Night 61.
Frank Mir was 0-4 in his past appearances in the Octagon when he stepped in to meet “Bigfoot” in the main event in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on Feb. 22, but Silva ended up saving Mir’s career.
“It was horrible. I didn’t do anything I trained,” Silva told MMAFighting.com. “Losing is part of the job, but you have to at least put on a fight, and I did everything but that.”
Mir came out in an orthodox stance, and “Bigfoot” thought the former champion was just waiting for an opportunity to shoot for a takedown. Instead, Mir gave the Brazilian his fifth first-round knockout loss in the past eight bouts.
“I thought he was waiting for a kick to take me down. He did the right strategy,” he said. “We both needed the win and he had more attitude than me in the beginning of the fight, and he deserved the win.
“I put so much pressure over me because this fight was in Brazil and I was coming off losses, and the fact that he was not in the best time of his career also affected me. Things happened with me that haven’t happened in 10 years.”
A former title challenger, Silva is ranked No. 13 in the UFC heavyweight division despite winning only two of his seven UFC fights, and recognizes he’s far from the top.
“The loss completely affected my career because my goal is to be among the best and fight the best to get to the title. Now, it’s like I just got to the UFC. I will have to start from zero again,” he said.
Silva will reevaluate his personal life and professional career before getting back inside the cage, and asks for an opponent in the top 10 of the division.
“I will fight whoever they want, but I would rather fight a top 10,” he said. “Our jobs are always on the line, win or lose. If you win an ugly fight doesn’t mean they can’t kick you out, and coming off a loss is even worse.”
“I’m back to training,” he continued. “I need some time to reevaluate my personal life, my career and enjoy some time with my family because I was 100 percent focused in my training. I left my daughters aside for two months because I had no energy to take them to the park, to the beach or play with them after the training sessions.”