Anderson Silva is testing his teammates ahead of his latest title defense. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
Anderson Silva will defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight crown against the unbeaten Chris Weidman in the UFC 162 main event on July 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Not surprisingly, he looks to be taking a serious approach to his latest challenge.
The 28-year-old “Indio” Silva meets Jason High in a featured welterweight matchup at UFC on Fuel TV 10 on June 8 at the Paulo Sarasate Gymnasium in Fortaleza, Brazil. He last appeared at UFC 153 in October, when he lost a unanimous decision to American Kickboxing Academy standout Jon Fitch. Silva admits training with a man many view as the sport’s pound-for-pound best can only benefit his development.
“Anderson trains hard,” he said. “We were already in the final phase of our training for [the] UFC [in] Fortaleza, yet you saw how the training went. He trained for five rounds without stopping, lowering his guard, doing those crazy things he does and giving us all a hard time.”
When he was done with “Indio,” Silva turned his attention towards former Strikeforce champion “Feijao,” who will lock horns with American Top Team’s Thiago Silva at UFC on Fuel TV 10. “Anderson is a phenomenon,” Cavalcante said. “In reality, he’s never not training. What’s amazing is that he’s totally unpredictable, lowers his guard, absorbs the blows and suddenly attacks you where you least expect it. He provided a tough workout for all of us.”
“Braddock” Silva, who once went the distance with Badr Hari under K-1 rules, went to great lengths to praise his new teammate.
“I’ve never done MMA sparring with him,” he said. “Today was the first time. I only went one round with him -- he had already gone four in a row -- but I really could see that he’s everything people say about him. In addition to moving and defending very well, he’s unpredictable.
“It’s an honor for me to train here every day with these legends of MMA,” the 26-year-old kickboxer added. “I’m learning a lot with [Antonio Rodrigo] ‘Minotauro’ [Nogueira], ‘Feijao’ and Anderson, and I hope to make my MMA debut soon.”