Anderson Silva: 'Dana White promised me the title fight if I beat Adesanya'

A. Silva still dreams of the middleweight belt. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram spiderandersonsilva

Without fighting since February 2017 and aged 43, Anderson Silva accepted the challenge of facing the Nigerian Israel adesanya, sixth place in the middleweight rankings. The fight will take place at UFC 234, an event that takes place on February 9, in Melbourne, Australia. Even considering the long inactivity in the face of a young star, Spider did not hide the reason for accepting the fight: to regain the Ultimate belt.

Anderson revealed that Dana White, president of the UFC, guaranteed him the chance to return to compete for the middleweight belt if he defeats the undefeated Nigerian, who has won 15 consecutive victories – four in the octagon.

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“I asked Dane: 'What am I going to gain from this fight?'. And he answered me: 'If you win, you'll fight for the belt,'” he said. Anderson Silva to ESPN in the United States. “It’s a big challenge for me. Israel is a young guy and the future of the sport. Everyone is talking about Israel. I think this is the best fight in the sport”, added an excited Anderson, who also spoke of the possibility of having a super fight against Conor McGregor.

“In principle, I spoke to Dana about a fight with McGregor, because he challenged me. Maybe this will be my second fight after returning. We'll see".

St, Pierre ran?

When commenting on the superfight against Conor McGregor, Anderson also didn't deviate when it came to the much hyped champion fight in the middle of the last decade. He, middleweight champion, and Canadian Georges. St; Pierre, owner of the welterweight title. With good humor, the Brazilian said that the fight hasn't happened yet because GSP 'ran away' from the duel.

It would be a great fight, but Georges never wanted to accept it. He's always running. It's crazy. I don't think Georges wants to face me. But that's okay, I respect him. He is a great fighter, who perhaps has a different vision, that of wanting easier fights. I'm not like that. I like the big challenges in life. Georges is very lucky and very intelligent. He will never accept a fight that is not easy. This is the point. For me, he's a great fighter, but he never takes on really big challenges. I respect him, but that’s my opinion,” he concluded..

Anderson Silva

Greatest middleweight champion (up to 84,1 kg.), Anderson Silva has a professional record of 34 wins and eight losses. The last time he entered the octagon, at UFC 208, in February 2017, Spider defeated Derek Brunson in the unanimous decision of the judges. He was cast to face Kelvin Gastelum, in November 2017, but ended up caught in an anti-doping test and suspended for 12 months. Led to fight since the 10th, the Brazilian even speculated on a super fight against Conor McGregor, but ended up accepting a comeback against Adesanya with an eye on the chance to regain the division title.