Anderson Silva of Stephan Bonnar: “The one who left me unable to continue a fight” | combat

In conversation with Las Vegas Direct Combat (USA), Bonnar recalled how he was called in to help save the event, revealing that he was practically retired and thought he would never fight again. At the time of the call, he was with friends on a boat, fishing for lobsters in Tampa, Florida.

Anderson had just defended his belt against Chael Sonnen for the second time, and it was a quiet fight for him. He was not damaged as in the first fight. At the time I was working in the UFC, I had a bureaucratic job, I had health insurance and a salary, and I had taken a step back from my fighting career and became an employee. When I was offered the fight, I was on vacation in Tampa, Florida for a few weeks to help Dave Bautista, who is now a Hollywood actor in WWE. At the time, he had fought an MMA fight and I hadn’t fought in a while, I wasn’t even seriously training. He was a UFC employee and thought he was retired. He was still exercising and didn’t want to go professional wrestling. After two weeks of training in Tampa, I was with some friends on a boat, fishing for lobsters. Suddenly I got a call from the UFC offering me the fight against Anderson Silva. It was crazy. I will never forget that. “I’m serious?” How does such a thing happen? I thought José Aldo would make the main fight.

The former fighter said he was paralyzed when he heard Dana White’s offer to do the main fight of UFC Rio 3 against Anderson Silva. For him, there was no way to refuse.

– But Dana told me on the phone that Aldo had been injured and that they would have to cancel the event, which would cost millions of dollars. Anderson was offered several names and he chose mine. My manager was in Vegas pushing for me to be elected, and I, on the ship, knew nothing. When they chose my name, I got the call and was paralyzed. It was literally the last thing on my mind at the time. I was very surprised, and how can I say no to something like that? In my head, I was completely out of the fight scene, really retired. I knew I was at the end of my career and my body was breaking down physically. He wasn’t coming off a three or five win streak, and he wanted a big name for one last fight.

With the goal of, at best, landing a good fight to hang up the gloves permanently, Bonnar saw his wish materialize after Dana White refused to give him one last fight against a big name a few months earlier.

– I didn’t look for the belt anymore. I just wanted to say goodbye gloriously in one last big fight. But Dana didn’t think so. He had spoken to me some time before and told me that such a fight would not happen. You are not going to be a TUF coach and then get the belt or retire. So I said that I just wanted to retire in a big fight, but he didn’t agree and asked me to work with them. I accepted. From then on, my head was no longer focused on fighting. But suddenly, that connection came, and that was all he had dreamed of. A great fight for me to retire. I couldn’t say no. If I decline, the entire card will be canceled. He had stopped fighting, he was retired, but it was a main fight against Anderson Silva in Brazil. I accepted.

The American recalled the climate of the city for the fight, and said that the open training sessions, which were held in Arcos da Lapa, in Rio de Janeiro, under a sun of more than 40 degrees did not bother him, since he lives in Las Vegas. , which is located in the middle of the Nevada desert.

– I was there with Sérgio Penha. He took me to Rio and it was really cool. I went to Brazil in 2003 to fight Lyoto Machida and I went to Carlson Gracie’s old academy and met him. It was very nice going to Rio. There was a great rivalry between the two academies, Oswaldo Alves and Carlson Gracie. I have been to both and they are not as modest as the American academies. But it was good to get a feel for the fight culture in Brazil and to meet so many jiu-jitsu legends and coaches along with Sérgio. What I remember from open training is that there wasn’t a lot of pressure on me. I was having fun most of the time. But I heard some screams of “Uh, you’re going to die!”, But I also responded well (laughs). It was fun. It wasn’t as hot as they claimed. I live in Vegas, I’m used to it. There was a lot of space and I was able to enhance my tan (laughs). I faced Anderson Silva in Rio. It was amazing to see it on billboards and posters at bus stops all over the city. I had to lose weight, but did go around town to try some local foods. It was good. I went to the beach in shorts and I felt like a fish out of water, because everyone was wearing a swimsuit except me.

Speaking of the fight, Bonnar remembers feeling nervous and dazed at first, but felt that, little by little, he became more comfortable in front of Spider.

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– I checked the fight. I came tense, stunned, because I was so nervous and I knew it. I couldn’t let him get comfortable and I wanted to vent that nervousness in the fight and get into a safe zone for me. When we got into the clinch I took a few short punches and tried to knock him down, but I got a little lost. I remember thinking, “His best shot is the right hook.” It worked well when he used it on the counter, as it did against Chael and Okami. He hit me with one of them and I wasn’t too bad. I looked at the screen and there were 30 seconds to go to the end of the first round. And I thought, “It’s great …”

According to him, there was an attempt to take the fight to the ground, but the thought of losing the round if he fell from below caused him to give up and start to keep the fight on his feet. And that, in your opinion, was your mistake.

– I could continue at that rate for a few more rounds and give Anderson a good fight. But I thought he had some kind of secret weapon against me. I tried to bring it to the ground again. It was a good idea to be with him on the ground, even underneath. It would work, because it might tire you out a bit. But then I thought I could lose the round, because it was very close. If I finished the round from the bottom, I could lose it, and if I stood up, I could hit a few shots and win the round. That was my big mistake. When I decided to fight on my feet, he pushed me to the grid and I hit and came back and used that momentum to give my knee even more strength. I saw the knee coming, but it got between my elbows. There, no matter how strong you are, when the blow is precise, you fall into the fetal position. I remember, when I was on the ground, he hit my head and I dropped my arms. “Thank God he’s hitting my head, because I don’t want him to hit my body again.” And that was it. The fight is over.

According to the American, Anderson Silva has the power to manipulate his opponents to make them feel comfortable during fights and to open loopholes for him to liquidate them. According to Bonnar, no one had ever hit him so hard, to the point of incapacitating him to continue in a fight like Anderson Silva did.

– This is how I can describe it. Anderson manipulates you, makes you think the fight won’t be bad for you, and you relax a bit. It was like that with me, and found the way out. The boy is one of the best of all time. I was there with him, exchanging blows, sharing the cage. I have fought over 30 guys, including seven world champions, and no one had stopped me. In the fight against Machida I wanted to continue, but they stopped the fight because of a deep cut. They said I couldn’t go on. Except no one has hit me as hard in my entire career as Anderson. He was the only one who left me truly unable to continue a fight. I take my hat off to him.

For Bonnar, Anderson is a fighter who needs his fights to be appreciated no matter the outcome. Despite being of advanced age (45 years old) for high-level MMA, the Brazilian has the quality to perform well. The American also remembers that, if he was defeated today, at 30 he was not even touched by his opponents.

– Anderson was always very fast. Rapids can fight until later, because when they get older they slow down and start to have a normal speed. He’s 45. Remember the fight against Daniel Cormier. He fought very well. People don’t appreciate that kind of thing. Cormier had been a heavyweight champion. Anderson was a ninja in that fight. Anyone who rules the world as long as he has to be in the group of the greatest of all time. Today he is over 40 years old and people see him as a crown. But at 30, no one could even touch him. And they only did it when he got older. This is something worth saying about Anderson Silva.

OR Combat shows the entire card “UFC Hall x Silva” live and exclusively this coming Saturday, with the “Combat Warming” from 4:30 pm (Brasilia time), and the start of the fights from 5 : 00 pm. OR Combate.com is he SporTV 3 shows the first two fights live, and the site follows the entire event in real time.

UFC Hall x Silva
October 31, 2020 in Las Vegas (USA)
MAIN CARD (8:00 pm EST):
Middleweight: Uriah Hall vs. Anderson Silva
Weight-penalty: Bryce Mitchell x Andre Fili
Middleweight: Kevin Holland vs. Charlie Ontiveros
Heavyweight: Maurice Greene vs. Greg Hardy
Lightweight: Bobby Green x Thiago Moses
PRELIMINARY CARD (5:00 pm EST):
Lightweight: Chris Gruetzemacher x Alexander Hernandez
French-weight: Adrián Yáñez x Víctor Rodríguez
Middleweight: Sean Strickland vs. Jack Marshman
Middleweight: Cole Williams vs. Jason Witt
Heavyweight: Dustin Jacoby vs. Justin Ledet
Flyweight: Cortney Casey x Priscila Pedrita
Gallicweight: Miles Johns x Kevin Natividad

UFC Hall x Silva: the Spider legend is back live and exclusively in Combat!