Wanderlei Silva’s Coach Says He’ll Knock Out Rampage Jackson

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Andre Dida, the head coach of Wanderlei Silva, said that he thinks Silva will knock out Quinton Rampage Jackson in their upcoming Bellator fight. Here are highlights:

On Silva’s motivation: “Keeping that flame on until the fight, he will surprise ‘Rampage’ and everyone else. He’s working hard, dedicating for this fight. Wanderlei is really hungry.”

On how Jackson’s fighting style is perfect for Silva: “We know he likes to brawl, and that’s great for the fans, who will watch a great fight, and for Wanderlei, because the style matches up well for him. Wanderlei has many weapons to beat Quinton Jackson. Every time Quinton Jackson tried to break Wanderlei standing, Wanderlei went there and broke him. He always tries to go toe-to-toe and ends up dying. We know what to do. Wanderlei is aggressive, everybody knows that, and we’ll keep him at his best for the fight. We know what went wrong. Wanderlei fought in a way and Quinton Jackson fired back. If Quinton Jackson does that again, we’ll catch him. Wanderlei Silva is hungry. It’s a new fight. Wanderlei is happy, living and training in Brazil again, and we’ll make sure he has his hands raised in the end.”

On fighting at heavyweight: “Cutting weight is not good for Wanderlei Silva anymore. Wanderlei Silva is stronger and heavier today, and he would need more time to cut weight. It’s good for Quinton Jackson, too. They both will be fit to do their best in there without draining their bodies.”