Following a brutal leg break at UFC 168 against Chris Weidman, it seems safe to say Anderson Silva will never square off against fellow fight veteran Roy Jones Jr. in a boxing match.
In a recent interview with HustleBoss.com, the former four-division boxing champ talks about his recent visit with “The Spider” in the hospital. He told the MMA great to keep his head up (transcription per MMA Mania).
Never upset because you have to understand that God does all things for a reason. That would be something that would be under his control. Anderson was prepared the best he could … And like I told him, ‘Anytime you kick so hard and so fast that you break your leg on another guy’s shin, that’s pretty fast, pretty hard and focused.’ Your force is what actually broke your own leg, you understand me? You had to be pretty on point to be banging like that, you understand where I’m coming from? So, there’s a good side to everything. I went to his bedside yesterday and told him, ‘You got to understand, that’s beyond your control. Nobody on this planet would have said before that fight that Chris was going to check your kick and break your leg. Nobody on this planet would have said that.’
At UFC 168 last Saturday, Silva looked to avenge his only career knockout loss to UFC middleweight champion Weidman.
“The All-American” defeated the legendary Brazilian competitor at UFC 162 in July, although many pundits considered the KO tainted since Silva was taunting and showboating excessively during the title tilt.
Therefore, many fans expected Silva to look like his old, dominant self at UFC 168. However, Weidman convincingly won the opening frame of the bout before Silva shattered his left shin on Weidman‘s knee in the second round.
Weidman is the only fighter to defeat Silva twice in his 39-fight career, which launched him into the No. 5 spot in the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings.
With Silva out of the fight game for at least the immediate future, Jones has already expressed an interest in boxing former Strikeforce welterweight titleholder Nick Diaz, per MMA Junkie.
Once one of the most dominant boxers to grace the ring, Jones entered his May 2004 bout with Antonio Tarver boasting an incredible 49-1 record.
However, since that point, the 44-year-old fighter has compiled just an 8-7 record, though he is currently riding a three-fight win streak.
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com