“The Spider” is ready to throw leather once again.
Next Saturday night (Feb. 11) future Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Hall of Famer Anderson Silva will go head-to-head with Derek Brunson. The bout will be the co-main event of UFC 208 inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Silva knows a thing or two about winning. He holds the record for most consecutive successful UFC title defenses with 10. While Silva was thought of to be unstoppable during that run, he has a different focus these days.
During a conference call (via MMAJunkie.com), Silva told media members that returning to the level of success he once had isn’t exactly something he’s striving for:
“Victory in my life, in your life, in everybody’s life is important. I think the more important thing now in my life is to stay happy, work happy. I’ve been fighting for a long time in my life and working hard at fighting in the UFC. I’ve changed a little bit of my focus. I focus on my family and my different jobs outside the UFC. I think for me now it’s not important how many fights I’ve lost, how many fights I win. I just bring my heart and do my best.”
Of course “The Spider” is still competitive. While Silva hasn’t had an official win since Oct. 2012, things aren’t all doom and gloom for Silva’s mixed martial arts (MMA) career. He originally earned a unanimous decision win over Nick Diaz back in Jan. 2015, but it was overturned due to failing drug tests.
When he returned from his one-year suspension, he had a hotly contested match-up with current UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. At one point, Silva dropped Bisping with a flying knee. In the end, “The Spider” fell short by unanimous decision.
Silva will have his 43rd professional MMA bout next Saturday.
