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Anderson Silva Plans UFC Title Run, Starting with Beating Michael Bisping
Former middleweight champion Anderson Silva is a future UFC Hall of Fame inductee. He held the 185-pound world title for seven years (2006-2013). He’s already considered the greatest mixed martial artist of all time by most, but “The Spider” isn’t done yet. The 40-year-old plans to recapture the belt.
“I’m very motivated to come back. I’m very motivated, very focused, and over the past two years of my career, I’ve had some bumps in the road and some adversities to overcome, but I’m very motivated, very focused on coming back and bringing this belt back to Brazil,” said Silva during a media conference call promoting his return bout against Michael Bisping.
Silva’s reign atop the middleweight division came to an abrupt halt at UFC 162 when was knocked out by Chris Weidman. He was defeated for a second time by Weidman in a rematch at UFC 168 when he suffered a gruesome broken leg injury.
When Luke Rockhold defeated Weidman on Dec. 12, it fueled Silva’s aspirations of becoming a champion again.
“Some things have definitely changed and definitely I’ve had a change of when I looked at it. I definitely changed my mind and I’m very motivated to come back and prove that I’m still one of the best and that I’m going to bring this belt back to Brazil. It’s just a matter of getting the opportunity to do that.”
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Silva sat out 2014 while he recovered from the broken leg. He only fought once in 2015 and is currently serving out the final days of a 12-month suspension for testing positive to steroids before and following his UFC 183 bout against Nick Diaz in January.
With one fight in the last two years, Silva’s legacy has kept him relevant. His accomplishments make the thought of him regaining belt within the realm of possibility. His first step on that path begins when he faces Bisping on Feb. 27 at the O2 Arena in London.
