Erick Silva Isn’t Underestimating Luan Chagas at UFC Fight Night 95

Erick Silva spoke with MMAjunkie about his fight with Luan Chagas at UFC Fight Night 95. Some highlights are below:

On training in his home city: “At first, I didn’t anticipate I could do a camp in my city (Vila Velha, Espirito Santo). That’s why I always lived in Rio. I lived there for six years. I had a tough time finding human material in Espirito Santo – trainers who could always be with me. This year I was able to do that. I brought Andre Benkei, and he was able to build a great team of coaches and sparring partners. We brought about 10 people from outside the state. I liked what we were able to do both technically and physically, but also the functional part, outside of the gym. Physiologist, orthopedist, cardiologist, even (mental) coaching, we got that. Putting all these things together, we have a pretty complete structure.”

On the effect of the changes: “Emotionally, it was much smoother. I was away from my family and my son for too long. Now, being close to everyone, it’s different. The city where I was raised, near my family and my son – I’m with my son every day, there’s that extra happiness with that. I feel much more fulfilled, more complete. It’s been very nice. Every day, I pick him up from school, and he goes to the night practice with me. That interaction is what lifts me up, what makes me the happiest. Before, I had that difficulty. He was growing up, and I missed it. I had him on weekends. I spent some time in the U.S., almost five months, and I didn’t see him during that time. That really got to me emotionally. When I came back to Espirito Santo, I was going to spend two weeks and go back to California. But I couldn’t.”

On working with his mental coach: “From what my coach said, it would take six months to start getting results. But we were able to really speed things up. We did a two-month project, and I went to see him twice a week. So I was with him two hours a day, for two days every week. It was a bit tiring, but I really liked it. I saw the difference from when I walked in the first day and when I left the last day – a lot more confident and centered. I think this is a fundamental aspect of training. Before, I didn’t take it very seriously. But now, I take it as something very important that needs to be equally trained.”

On the difference between him now and when he joined the UFC: “The difference is experience. I wasn’t that young when I joined the UFC – I was 27. Many new things were happening, and that ends up taking you by surprise. Nowadays, we’re much more experienced – we’ve seen wins, defeats, disqualifications. I can see the things that help, the things that don’t. I’ve heard that I was the best fighter in the world, and I’ve heard I was the worst fighter in the world. I’m not going to believe either. I only believe in what I have to do. But I think those who say I’m the best in the world one day will be right.”

On his perspective as a veteran: “I remember some fights, I was like, ‘Many people believe in me, trust in me,’ and you want to show them. But with time and experience, you see that it’s about you, your coaches, the people who love you. That’s what matters. Of course I want to do good fights for my fans and the people who support me. But I have to be realistic and know that the most important thing is the people close to me. So I’m going to give it my all to make sure they’re happy with what I do. And what I’ve been doing makes me happy, and I’m sure it’s making the people close to me happy too.”

On Chagas: “We can’t underestimate him. I watched many of his fights. His last one, his debut, against Sergio – many had Sergio as a favorite, and he put on a very good fight. He took many people by surprise, went to the ground with him. Any athlete – whether it’s me, Aldo, Jon Jones – we all have breaches. As great as a fighter is, at some point he’ll show holes. And studying all the paths and his game, we found holes that we want to capitalize on. He will expose them and we will capitalize on it.”