UFC 132 Fight Card Features the Return of Wanderlei Silva
UFC 132 features the long awaited return of the Wanderlei Silva. It has been over a year since Silva has taken to the octagon, and he is set to return Saturday night vs. Chris Leben.
Silva is one of the sports all-time greats and most accomplished fighters. He dominated Pride’s middleweight (205lbs) division before switching to the UFC. Silva switched as he seemed to be falling off of his game.
He ended his Pride career with knockout losses to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Dan Henderson. He then started his UFC career with knockout losses to Chuck Liddell and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Silva is hoping the time away did him some good, and he is expecting to put on a good show against Leber. Here is Silva as quoted from an interview on ESPN:
It’s a really good fight for the fans. After I saw his fight with [Yoshihiro] Akiyama, his style was like my style. He’s one exciting fighter. He’s a warrior and has good heart. He doesn’t give a step back. In that fight, it’s good to look at who’s going to be the first to step back.
Part of the reason Silva is optimistic because, after a break, he has been training under Master [Rafael] Cordeiro again. Here is Silva on the subject from the above linked article:
Finally man. I’m an old style student. I need a master. I can’t have just a coach. I need a master.
The difference … the guy knows all about me. He knows my movements. He looks at you training and he knows. “You need to do that. You move that leg here. … ” He knows all. We started working in the gym sparring and he said do this, do this, do this. It’s a different connection.
Saturday night we will all find out if that switch can help him recapture the magic, or if father time has permanently stripped him this legendary fighter of his greatness.
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