UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva dazzled the combat sports community, upsetting former WBC middleweight champion Juilo Cesar Chavez Jr. via a split-decision on Saturday night.
The bout was Silva's first boxing bout in nearly 16 years and he put on a somewhat vintage performance against the former Mexican boxing champion. He spoke with reporters in the post-fight press conference for the event and described his jubilation over the upset victory.
“I’m very happy,” Silva said (h/t MMAFighting). “Especially because I trained hard. I never stopped training. I love my job. I’m training hard everyday. I’m working hard everyday. I’m happy. I’m very, very happy. I’m very respectful with my coaches, with my partners training and I’m so happy to be here today and to win and show my respect. I’m so happy.”
The former UFC middleweight champion's fighting career seemed to be in the past after he finished his Octagon career 1-5 and was TKO'd in the fourth round by Uriah Hall at UFC Vegas 12 in his final fight with the promotion. However, with the switch to boxing and now victory over Chavez Jr, there seems to be renewed life for Silva's fighting future. The Brazilian MMA icon was non-committal to fighting again, but seems to be open to anything at this point.
“I don’t know,” Silva said about his fighting future. “Now, I go back to my home and my son has a fight very soon, a kickboxing fight and I’ll go help my son. Maybe I fight jiu-jitsu, maybe I fight gi or no-gi, maybe I have next boxing fight. I don’t know. Right now, my focus is helping my son. Let me tell you something, I don’t have nothing more to prove to anybody. The boxing community have shown me respect, for my opponent I showed my respect, for the people here in Mexico. I love Mexico. I don’t know. Maybe I fight again in boxing. I’m free right now. I’m a free man. I try to do my best in everything I do in my life. My focus right now is to help my son. My son has a fight very soon and I’ll go help my son in training. I’m training my son for his next fight. The future is amazing. Everything is possible. Maybe I fight again or not. Right now my focus is enjoy my day and help my son to the next fight.”
.@SpiderAnderson doing #AndersonSilva things!#TributeToTheKings
— FITE (@FiteTV) June 20, 2021
PPV: https://t.co/cUFR9Hvg9P pic.twitter.com/OM4sVY3iLY
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