Anderson Silva victory over Derek Brunson at last night’s UFC 208 may not have been his most convincing performance of his career, but the highly acclaimed ‘Greatest of all time’ believes he had done enough early on in the fight to be awarded the unanimous decision victory contrary to the opinion of many people watching who thought Silva hadn’t done enough to earn the decision.
“I think I won two rounds,” he said. “I think so, but it’s a good question for the judge. Because I defended the takedown and the last round…I attacked more.”
The result in the co-main event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York is one which was seen as controversial to some viewers, Brunson seemed to have won the third round fairly convincingly however one of the three judges didn’t see it that way; one judge gave the Brazilian 30-27 while the remaining two scored it 29-28 also in Silva’s favour.
During the UFC 208 post-fight presser, the former UFC middleweight champion spoke of his gratitude for being able to prove he could still compete at 41 years of age.
“I am so happy,” he said. “I am so happy because first of all I love fighting. Second, sometimes when people talk to me and say, ‘why don’t you stop? You don’t need to prove nothing anymore,’ and I respond, ‘because this is my heart. Fighting’s my life. And when you go inside the cage I’m back to when I was 30 years old, and just happy. And I just stay happy, because this is my life.”
Despite winning the bout, Silva later mentioned how when Brunson took him down and kept him there for the remainder of the round, he really felt his age and that time was catching up on him.
“I’m old, I’m very old” said Silva. “Yeah, the last round; the last round I say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m an old man now. Jesus Christ.’ But I think, this is not important. Because when I go inside a cage, I don’t care, 41, 42, 43 — I just put my heart into it. That’s all.”
Despite having mentioned a potential rematch with current UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, the 41 year-old said this isn’t something he is looking for but instead will head home and spend time with his family.
“My next step is Dana, thank you. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to fight again, and now I go back home.”
When questioned if he would continue to fight, he left little doubt that he would step foot in the Octagon again however did not mention any names.
“No, I just wait for my next challenge inside the cage,” he said. “But for now I need to rest a little bit. I’m old.”
The Spider admitted he was happy with his performance on the night and that would not rule out fighting at UFC 212 which is set to take place in his home country of Brazil in June.
“Yeah, I’m happy, because I do my best, I’m just happy. When I put my legs inside, and when I walk into the cage, I think, oh my gosh, I’m back to fight. Thank you God.”
Silva’s win last night broke a four-year winless streak after his victory over Nick Diaz at UFC 183 in 2015 was reversed into a “no contest” due to a positive drug test resulting in a suspension for the former champ. Prior to last night’s victory over Brunson, Silva’s last official win was a first round TKO victory over Stephan Bonnar in 2012.
