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Anderson Silva Discusses Contract Status, Possible Fight With Conor McGregor at UFC 234 Open Workout

January 22, 2019 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva spoke with reporters, including 411’s own Jeffrey Harris, at his open workout ahead of his fight with Israel Adesanya at UFC 234. In the media scrum, which you can see our video of below, Silva discusses Adesanya, his future with the UFC, a possible fight with Conor McGregor and more. Highlights are below:

On how he’s feeling: “I feel so happy, brother. You know, it’s my first time in Australia. I’m very excited. First of all, because it’s my first time in Australia. Second of all, because I love sharks! I have a lot of fun in Australia, and I’m so happy to fight again, thank God. Yeah. I’m very excited to go to Australia.”

On Adesanya saying he’s a younger clone of Silva: “When I’ve talked about [wanting to fight] my clone, I talk because…it’s funny. You know, ‘Oh, now I think it’s time to fight with my clone’…I think Israel is a great fighter, but he’s not my clone. He’s not a better version of me. I think it’s about becoming the better version of yourself. Because I never tried to, in my life, make a better version of other fighters. I tried to make my mind better, and a better version of me.”

On if the UFC is trying to feed him to a younger fighter in Adesanya: “So you know, everybody’s talking about that. But, in my point, I believe in, I stay in this sport, I continue in this sport, thank you God. And the new talent comes. It’s natural. I fight for the young version, the young fighters, the new talent. I say, thank you God for staying in shape, for fighting these young guys. Because it’s not easy, you know. I stay in shape, I try to do my best every day, and let’s go see what happens in Australia.”

On how many fights he has left on his contract: “Dana talked to me about my contract, and I have three more fights. But Dana said, ‘You know, let’s go talk about your contract later. Don’t think about it now.’ So okay, all right.”

On a possible fight with Conor McGregor: “Conor is a great name, I think. First of all, Conor challenged me. And I talked to Dana about that, he said ‘Oh, come on Anderson.’ I said, ‘Come on, Dana…why not?’ That superfight, I think, is very interesting.”

On if he’s seen Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: “I watched it. I loved it! You know, that’s the new step for the new superheroes, you know?…I think [those are] very interesting movies, when you put in the superheroes in their natural life. And doing something special for the fans, I love it.”

On if he was surprised Adesanya opened as a big favorite against him: “So everybody’s talking about me and Israel But you know, I pass for different situations and different experiences in this sport. I win, I lose. And now I just try to make everything happen, you know? Especially for me, for by yourself. I train every day, I have good partners, I have good friends. I have a good team that stays close to me every day. And for me at this point, I just try to do my best not for anybody. Just for me. And I don’t have nothing for talking about Israel, except that young is a good challenge for me.”

Silva also talks about hoping to swim with sharks while in Australia (after the fight, he promises), Robert Whittaker and more. You can see his full comments in the video.