Anderson Silva: 'The penny only dropped when they raised Weidman's arm'

Rematch between A. Silva (left) and C. Weidman (right) takes place on December 28th. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC

Former middleweight champion Anderson Silva revealed, in an interview with the program “Mundo da Luta”, on the radio beat98, how difficult it was to assimilate the defeat suffered by Chris Weidman at UFC 162, on July 6th. Anderson said he began to understand what happened only when he saw his opponent being announced as the winner of the fight.

“The penny only dropped when they raised Weidman’s arm. I saw it and thought: 'Wow, I let Brazil down. I can't believe I did that.' Then, because of the heat of the moment, I made statements that were not legal, saying that I was no longer going to compete for the title. But the contract stated that whoever won would give the other a rematch, so there would be a fight. If this wasn't in the contract I would take more time, rest and reflect on martial arts, on training and the philosophy of martial arts, which I have always had”, said Spider.

Anderson also spoke about the lesson learned from the defeat, and subsequent loss of the title. “It was good that it happened there, because I ended up finding myself and seeing where I made the mistakes that led me to lose the belt”, said the former champion. “The criticisms are valid, but I am a human being. I made a technical error, and it was good not only for me to learn, but also for everyone around me to learn. There was a lack of knowledge that it was necessary to maintain focus. I lost focus, and now it's time to improve. On December 28th, I will represent Brazil again in Las Vegas at the UFC to try to bring back the belt, which is a Brazilian heritage”, he added.

After suffering his first defeat in Ultimate, and the first knockout of his career, Anderson Silva now tries to regain the middleweight belt in a rematch against Chris Weidman, which takes place on December 28th. The clash is the main event of UFC 168, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas (USA).