Over at Yahoo! Wanderlei Silva answered questions from the fans. He gives really good to answers to a lot of the questions asked.
A few highlights:
Still want Chuck?
Due to Chuck Liddell’s recent two losses and, specifically, his last loss against Keith Jardine, does a fight with Chuck mean the same to you now as it would have when Chuck held the belt?
“I’ve wanted to fight Chuck for a long time. I think about having that fight a lot because our styles are very similar – he is a very good striker like me. It’s no problem that he is not the champion. After I beat Chuck, then I want to fight the champion.”
Steroids?
Do you think that the lack of drug testing and possible use of substances banned in UFC and not tested for in Pride have anything to do with the struggles that the majority of Pride fighters are having in the UFC? If not, why do you think these fighters are having such a problem transitioning to the UFC?
“Actually, they do test in Japan. I was tested before and after my fights in Japan. But if you are thinking of Mirko (Cro Cop) and Shogun as examples, Mirko may have lost because he has so many other things going on in his life, such as his duty in government, and his business. Shogun went through a lot of changes before he fought in the UFC. He changed his home, he changed his training, and he changed fighting organizations. I don’t know why they lost their fights in the UFC; only Shogun and Mirko understand the reasons why they lost.”
Rampage rematch?
Does your previous success in fights against the UFC light heavyweight champion Quentin “Rampage” Jackson make a potential title match with a fighter you’ve dominated extremely appealing to you? Finally, other than yourself, who would you list as the top five MMA fighters pound-for-pound in the world today?
“Yes, it’s a very appealing fight to me. Because the two fights I had with him were good fights. And now he is the champ, so for me it will be a pleasure to fight him. I don’t like him very much. So yes, it is an extremely appealing fight for me, because I would get to defeat him and win the belt.
I would say the top fighters pound-for-pound in the light heavyweight class are Shogun, Liddell and Lyoto Machida. Other fighters that I think are good are (Takanori) Gomi, (Gilbert) Melendez, Ninja (Murilo Rua) and Cyborg (Fedor Emelianenko).”
Read the full interview here |
