Wanderlei Silva turned in a vintage performance against Cung Le at UFC 139, improving his UFC record to 3-4.
While the win brought back a sense of nostalgia for PRIDE FC fans, Silva credits UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva for helping him with preparation.
Silva is one of just the many fighters who Silva required to help him prepare for Le’s unorthodox style.
“I want to thank all my coaches: Dida, Rafael, Werdum. All the guys from Kings, from Wand that helped me. It was really a good vibe they’ve sent me,” Silva told TATAME.com following his victory. ” Anderson is phenomenal. He went there and trained with me.”
The first round saw the Sanshou practitioner use his distance to set up his dynamic kicks and pick apart the Brazilian. At one point, Le rocked Silva with a spinning back fist, but the former PRIDE champion was able to recover and survive throughout the first round.
Silva entered the second round much more aggressive and began to close the distance and force his opponent to stand and trade.
“The Axe Murderer” caught Le with a right hook and would send his opponent to the canvas following a barrage of knees.
Silva said sticking to his strategy left him feeling very satisfied with the win.
“He hit me some times, because the plan was to feel him on the first round and move forwards on the second,” he said. “I was good prepared, I was strong and I was good to go.”
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