Anderson Silva made a startling statement when speaking about his preparation for a boxing match with Jake Paul.
In an interview with MMA Weekly the ex-UFC middleweight champion stated that he was knocked out two times by his training partners during the last sparring session before the fight. It takes place at Gila River Arena, Glendale, Ariz.
“I’m training hard for win — I’m training with the good boxers, high-level, and five guys come to help me,” Silva said. Silva said that he had knocked out two of his [my sparring partner], sparring partners. After finishing my training, Silva spoke to her coach, asking him why. He replied, “You must prepare for war, and you prepare .'”
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Luiz Silva’s former coach told MMA Fighting that the last sparring session had taken place on Friday. However, Silva strongly denied Silva’s assertion, saying he was not knocked out.
“What I can say is that didn’t happen,” he said. Anderson was a great sparring [sessions]. instructor. Thank God that we followed all of the training steps. He’s 100 percent for the fight.”
A request for comment to Silva’s management was not immediately returned. Arizona Department of Gaming oversees state’s boxing commission. It sent a short statement to MMA Fighting via email: “We are investigating the matter and have not further comment at the time .”
All Arizona fighters above the age of 36 must be approved by the commission to become licensed. They will need to submit a stress test done by a doctor and clearance letters, as well as an electrocardiogram (ECG), to prove their cardiovascular health. In general, fighters are also required to submit to concussion baseline testing. All fighters must submit a physical exam. They are also asked to provide information about their last knockout and the duration of their unconsciousness.
Silva has fared well since his transition to boxing, earning three straight wins since returning to the squared circle. In his previous bout, he knocked out UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz at 1:21 of Round 1.
In MMA Silva’s last UFC fight was a TKO defeat to Uriah Hill. He will be joined by him at Saturday’s undercard event, where he will take on Le’Veon Bell in a boxing match.
Silva’s admission is not the first time he’s spoken of knockouts prior to a fight. Silva claimed that he had been knocked unconscious by his training partner prior to the UFC 183 fight with Nick Diaz. This was later confirmed to be UFC colleague Khalilrountree. Rountree later confirmed the incident, saying, “we train hard to guarantee we’re going to win, and things happen during training. No big deal. I know a lot of people get knocked out in training and simply don’t say, but he’s an honest guy. It happened in training but not in the fight, so it doesn’t matter.” Silva’s then-manager, Ed Soares, said Silva had been knocked down, but not out, and Rountree’s comments had been “misinterpreted.”
Below is Silva’s full interview.
