Anderson Silva Media Scrum in Brazil

Anderson, you got this fight on short notice. How prepared are you for this fight?
I’m fine. Actually, I had a little more time. Training is great, I’m happy to be fighting again.
That’s what I love doing. I hope the result is positive. We trained a lot, we’re training a lot.
Training is great. The time we had to prepare was more from what we built over the years.
What I already trained, everything we developed in training, there’s not much to do now.
We had a month and 10 days to make it happen, and everything is working for us so far.
Did you know about the fight moments before it was announced, or did you already know a while ago?
I was talking to my managers, Ed and 'Joinha' from Tough Media,
and we were talking if I would fight now or around June and July,
and I chose to fight now because I have other projects going on,
and it would be better for me to fight now.
Derek Brunson was the first name they offered, or did they mention other names?
I think he was the first name that came, yes.
Did you like the choice, his fighting style, his name, and where he stands in the ranking?
I don't care much about ranking or fight style. I like to fight. I love doing this.
It’s a new challenge, and I hope I can bring a positive result for Brazil and for my team.
You like to put on a show. Your last fight was against Cormier, who fought more of a safe fight.
Do you expect Derek Brunson to be more aggressive, putting on an exciting fight for the fans?
It’s different weight classes, right? I think it’s a fight with more movement, that game with hit and miss.
Because it’s a different division, I think it’s going to be a fight with more movement.
Bisping said recently that he’s interested in fighting you, and that he might come back in May.
Is that a good date for you, if they offer you this fight with Bisping?
I’m ready to fight. No matter who it is.
It would be perfect to fight Bisping, especially because something was left in the air.
Not only with me, but also with Dan Henderson. Something was left in the air in London.
I think that if it was in a neutral place, I’d accept to fight him, for sure.
It doesn’t matter for the belt or anything else, fighting Bisping would be interesting.
- You wouldn’t accept to fight in England? - Of course not. Undoubtedly, no.
Do you think you would have won if that fight was in another country?
I believe so. I believe so. There was a series of mistakes in the fight, but that’s in the past.
You’re a great name in the sport, but in the last few years you had some setbacks, like the injury.
How hungry are you? What does a win over Brunson brings to a man that already conquered everything?
That’s it, you said it, conquered everything. I just want to have fun and do what I love now. I have no pressure.
I think I’ve been through all the phases of the sport. I won, I lost, I got injured.
Now, I get to do what I love, with my truth, without worrying about what people will say or things like that.
You mentioned that you’d like to fight Bisping and Conor.
If you could chose one of them, who would you chose and why?
I'd like to test myself against Conor because he’s an interesting martial artist.
His stand-up game is an intelligent game.
Not because he’s champion now, but for the martial arts challenge.
I’d like to see how these stand-up techniques, his and mine, would mix, and how that would go.
But not to fight for a belt or anything like that.
For the challenge, an interest, that thing about knowing how a fight like this would go.
More interested than fighting Bisping for the title?
Everybody talks about it, fighting Bisping for the title. It’s something that can happen.
It can happen. But no matter about the title or not, I’d like to fight him.
At what weight class would you fight McGregor?
I believe he can make 80, 81kg (176, 178 pounds), right? That’s a weight I can get easily.
Did you mention recently that you made 77kg (170 pounds) once?
We started this work and I got to 79kg (174 pounds),
but we thought it would be better not to do these tests.
There was no fight booked, we made 79kg,
and master (Rogerio) Camoes said ‘man, you don’t need this, you’re fine, so go back to your division.’
We already know I can make 79kg now, but my team and my doctor,
Dr. Marcio Tannure, because of my age, decided to stay in my division.
Why did you do this test? Were you looking into a fight with GSP?
I wanted to see how low I could go if there was a possibility of moving down a weight class.
You compete in MMA since the Japan days, and you’re finally able to fight in New York.
Is that different for you? Is that something you always wanted, a dream?
It’s a dream to fight in New York after all this fight, the UFC trying to make MMA legal in New York,
and now being able to take the sport there and fight. It’s amazing. I’m really happy.
There’s a rumor that Mayweather might fight Conor McGregor in a boxing match,
and the same Dana White that didn’t let you box in the past, offered Mayweather $25 million.
Why do you they treat you different? Why couldn’t you do that?
I don’t think there’s different in treatment. I think it’s different times. The sport is completely different now.
I had no intention to fight Roy Jones for money. No way.
It was my dream to fight a guy because I’m a fan.
Winning is a different story, but just the fact of going there and fighting a guy
that I’ve always watched since I was young, watching him win and put on a show.
It would be fantastic for me. That’s one of the things that are missing in my fighting career.
You said times are different. Which differences do you see between then to now?
The value of the martial art is left aside, it’s more commercial now.
Nothing against it, that should really happen, it’s the evolution, but the martial art was left aside a little.
That’s what Master Helio and Master Carlson used to say, it was a great challenge between martial arts.
Today, it became a business, too commercial, and no longer a sport.
You said you wanted to fight now because you have other projects. Can you talk about that?
I have some tests to do in Hollywood, and a series I wrote for Netflix.
Netflix bought the idea, thank God, and we have other projects not related to fights.
Besides my dream fight with Roy Jones, I always dreamed about becoming an actor,
and I’m studying for a few years now. Things are starting to happen.
I have a team with fantastic people working with me, helping in this project, and I’m studying a lot.
We’ll see what happens.
Can you talk about this series? Is it about fighting?
No, it has nothing to do with fighting. It’s an action series, but not related to fighting.
Does it have a name yet?
No, not yet. We’re still working on the script, and we’ll choose the name after everything is right.
Are you working on this while you prepare for this fight?
No, I had to stop because time is short, but all the time I’m…
You know, that annoying thing, writing the ideas down before you sleep, waking up with new ideas.
People were intrigued when the UFC announced this match-up wth Brunson, maybe because he’s not a big name.
What’s the logic behind this fight for you? What did you like about this?
The challenge, right? Eight years younger.
He’s an athlete that had this recent loss, but he was coming off wins. It’s the challenge.
Tyron Woodley talked recently about racism in MMA,
that he thinks the UFC and fans treat him differently because he’s black.
You're fighting for a long time, have you ever had to deal with racism in the sport,
coming from fans or even the UFC?
No, no. No situation where I felt this type of comment. I never had this problem.
I have my setbacks with the Dana, but I was always welcomed and well treated in the UFC.
I have a great relationship with everyone in the UFC.
Of course, you always have to look for your side, but from the moment you sign a contract,
everything is in there and is good for both sides, everything is right.
There’s always something that could be better.
I have my setbacks with Dana but we have a great relationship,
so sometimes he says what he thinks and I say what I think, but I’m not that young enough to have to hear silly things,
so he talks and I talk and we get to a deal. But I can’t complain about the UFC.
Of course, there are always things you’re unhappy, the UFC and the athlete, but you should talk about it.
I can’t complain about anything with the UFC.
When I’m unhappy about something I say it, even if Dana will be mad or not.
He’ll do it, too. When he’s unhappy with me, he’ll say it and we get to an agreement.
What makes you unhappy with the UFC today?
In the UFC, today? Nothing, man.
There were some situations in the past that were solved, but today, there’s nothing.
I can’t complain about the UFC.
I’m grateful to Dana and Lorenzo for everything they have done and still do.
I have a great relationship with them.
You mentioned Dana and Lorenzo, but Lorenzo is not part of the UFC anymore.
What are your thoughts on his departure? Have you met the new owners yet?
No, I didn’t have the opportunity to meet the new owners,
but I’m always talking to Dana, giving him ideas of what could be done to make the UFC better.
I’m an athlete, we have different views. He welcomes my ideas.
I think there are a lot of good things coming, especially for the athletes.
Gegard Mousasi said recently that he was offered a fight against you,
but you didn't accept it because his name wasn't big enough…
No, no way. No way. It wasn't mentioned to me that Mousasi wanted to fight me.
But it’s something that can happen.
I respect his work, he has a big name, he's a great athlete, but his name wasn't mentioned to me.
You talked about fighting for the title. Would you be bothered if you cut the line in front of Jacare?
Well, here we go. Thinking about the sport, Jacare is the one who should fight for the belt;
Thinking about the show, the best thing would be Anderson and Bisping again.
But the thing is, if I fought Bisping and he still had the belt, and God gave me the opportunity to defeat him,
I’d vacate the belt and fight in a different division, or even in the same division but no longer for the belt.
Derek Brunson is a strong, explosive guy, but his best weapon is his wrestling.
Did you train to use your striking, or did you train specifically for his wrestling?
Look, I always focus on doing what I do best, which is the striking, the jiu-jitsu with master De La Riva,
takedown defense with Rafael Feijao, and with Jacare, who’s an excellent judoca.
I try to make every situation comfortable for my game, no matter who the opponent is.
If he’s a wrestler of he fights better standing or not, we always focus on working on what we have best.
Conor McGregor won two UFC belts. Do you think you could have done that before had they give you a chance and make history before McGregor?
I think everyone has his own history.
McGregor has to be respected, he has made history and will do even more, I hope he does more, he’s a great athlete.
In due proportion, I also made my history.
I fought at light heavyweight with Forrest Griffin, a former champion.
I think I fought two or three times at light heavyweight, but everything has its time and its moment.
He had his moment and has to be respected, a great athlete, and I had mine.
Did you ask for this opportunity?
When I was the champion, I always focused on doing what I do best,
which was stay in my division without worrying about other divisions and other opponents.
I was always focused on doing well in my division for years, and were able to do that.

Anderson Silva Media Scrum in Brazil

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