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Another Silva on his way to PRIDE glory! After almost a year waiting for a chance, due to some contractual issues, Chute Boxe rising star and the guy who took away Japanese hero Hayato Sakurai his Shooto Belt is finally coming to PRIDE. Anderson Silva is the latest Chute Boxe team product to take Japan’s biggest NHB event by assault and he plans to stay there for a good while. With a last name already made famous in Japan by his teammate Vanderlei Silva, Anderson is considered by many the most technical fighter in the “brawler’s factory” that is known worldwide as the Chute Boxe academy. With a great jab, a very big reach and a patient, yet aggressive, and technical style of fighting he has the tools to make a name for himself in the land of the rising sun, as his teammates did before him. First scheduled to face Brazilian Top Team member Paulo Filho, the always quiet, and almost shy, Anderson Silva stopped a training section to speak with Full Contact Fighter only two days before leaving for Japan, when he still had no idea he would end up facing “The Brazilian Killa” Alex Steibling for his PRIDE debut. In this quick interview Silva spoke about his training, his dream of fighting K-1, PRIDE and much more, as FCF gets more heated than ever for what may be the best fight in PRIDE 21’s card! FCF: You had to wait a long time for this opportunity to fight in PRIDE. Was all this time waiting for this opportunity to finally fight in the event since PRIDE 16, due to the problems involving a contract with the UFC, leaving you impatient? Anderson: No, in fact there was no such thing as getting impatient. It’s a question of work and patience. We were waiting, but I was always very tranquil. I was always tranquil about it because Master [Rudimar Fedrigo] always told me that my opportunity at PRIDE would come. So the time has come and I will try to continue with my work and take my chance! FCF: Even now for PRIDE 21 your fight was only confirmed a few days before the event. Did you get afraid you could end up not fighting again? Anderson: I was a bit worried but thank God Master Rudimar was able to solve all the problems and issues that were making difficult my entrance at PRIDE, and the important thing is that now everything is right and we’re going there to win! FCF: Is it tougher to prepare without knowing for sure if you’re going to fight or not? Or does your training routine doesn’t change very much? Anderson: My training never changes! It’s getting even more intensified as my career goes on. FCF: You fought in Japan before, winning twice in Shooto. Besides that you went with the Chute Boxe team for PRIDE several times. What are you expecting from the Japanese public reaction towards you? Anderson: I expect the Japanese public to receive me there with a lot of joy. We already have a good relationship with the Japanese public, and my last name is also Silva! So I expect the Japanese public to receive me very well in PRIDE. FCF: Another Silva is coming to PRIDE? (Laughs) Anderson: For sure! (Laughs) FCF: Do you feel comfortable fighting in Japan? Anderson: I feel good fighting in Japan! I feel very tranquil, relaxed. I also don’t have any problems with the time-zone thing. We try to get there with a good amount of time to prepare, to train there, so we get in good shape in the event. I don’t have any problems at all. FCF: You can even face some Japanese food if needed? (Laughs) Anderson: Yeah! It’s tranquil! I even like it! (Laughs) FCF: Your opponent would be Paulo Filho, from the Brazilian Top Team. What do you know about him as a fighter? Anderson: I don’t know anything about him! I don’t know who he is. But coming from the Brazilian Top Team he must be a good fighter! But I don’t know him, I don’t know who he is and I never saw him. I never saw him fighting. FCF: And I presume you don’t care to see his fights? Anderson: No. I think every fight is a different fight. He has two arms; two legs and I have it too! (Laughs) What can come from there can also come from here, so it’s tranquil! FCF: Does the fact that he is a Brazilian Top Team fighter, and all the polemics about a rivalry between the two teams motivates you even more for such a fight? Anderson: No! In my head nothing changes because of it. I believe this rivalry thing is something that will always happens, not only with the Top Team but also with any other academy. Well, we’re there to fight and I don’t have anything against anyone. I’m there to fight and to represent well my master and my academy! So it’s tranquil! I’m there to fight and defend the name of my academy. FCF: All the Chute Boxe athletes have aggressiveness as one of their main characteristics. However you, despite also being aggressive, like to study the style of your opponent in the beginning of the fight, and seems to always pick your shots. Do you believe in a fighting strategy, or like your teammates you don’t want to know anything about your opponent’s game? Anderson: In fact this is a question of going up there to fight, and the time you have to study your opponent is also the time where you’re throwing strikes and taking strikes. There’s not much of a thing like watching tapes, analyzing how the guy is going to enter the fight, what he’ll do and stuff like that. Once you entered the ring, it’s all happiness! FCF: But you use to show a lot of patience in your fights. Do you think this is a characteristic from your own style of fighting rather than specific training? Anderson: Yeah. I think this is a characteristic of my own style. Because I think every fighters needs to be smart, so I try to take good advantage of my intelligence inside the ring, mostly. FCF: You have been gaining weight recently. How much will you be weighting for this fight? Anderson: I think I’ll weight around 89, or 90kg [200lbs]. Let’s see if we’ll be able to go to PRIDE with 91kg. FCF: How much do you intend to weight in the future? What is your goal? Do you feel comfortable fighting heavier? Anderson: I believe that weighting around 90kg may be my ideal weight, maybe even for myself to be able to fight in K-1 in the future! I adapted very well to this heavier weight, and I’m very tranquil. I have been doing some specific training to gain weight without losing my speed, training a lot of Boxing and I believe my punch is way harder now! FCF: Everything can happen in a fight and it’s always tough to make a call, but how do you believe the fight is going to unfold? Anderson: Look, I don’t imagine anything, lots of things can happen. There’s no way for me to tell you what can happen in fact. But my goal is to fight well and represent my academy. FCF: How was your preparation for the event, considering you weren’t sure you were going to fight? Anderson: I have been preparing very hard, training a lot and I’m very tranquil. I’m well prepared physically, mentally and technically. I trained a lot of Boxing to this fight! I also trained a lot of Jiu Jitsu and a lot of Wrestling. FCF: With Nilson de Castro’s win there recently, is K-1 still in your plans? Do you think this fight in PRIDE can represent a turning point in your career? Anderson: For sure! Things got easier now with a presence inside K-1 and I’m available to represent PRIDE in K-1 if they want, and also represent my academy there. I think this opportunity in PRIDE will open a lot of doors to me. I believe this is what every international level fighter works for! Fighting at PRIDE, a prestigious event, as well as the UFC. So I’ll try to represent my academy well, do a good showing and by doing this be able to come back to PRIDE’s ring. FCF: By the way, what are your plans for the future, after this fight? Anderson: I don’t have any opponent that I would like to face. If I could fight a clone of myself, this would be a good experience (Laughs) FCF: (Laughs) Man, this sound like a movie script! Anderson: I’m serious! (Laughs) I would like to see how it would be! It would be very cool! FCF: What are your plans for after this fight? Anderson: I’ll keep on training Eduardo, and try to bring a lot of happiness to the Brazilian people, wining abroad. The main thing is to train a lot! Train a lot and try to serve as an example for some fighters who are beginning their careers, always try to represent my academy well, and fight! Keep fighting at PRIDE and maybe in K-1 in the future. FCF: Any final message for your fans? Anderson: I want to say to the guys that cheer for me that I’m training a lot! I have been training very hard and I intend to represent well my fans, my academy and do a good fight! Always do a good fight, a good spectacle, and like is the standard in our academy showcase a lot of violence! FCF: Thanks and the best of luck! Anderson: Great! Thanks a lot man! |
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