New Wanderlei Interview

[tuco]

ITC: This is Kalin Johnston from “Inside the Cage” here with the former Pride Middleweight Champion, “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva. Wanderlei, how are you doing?

Wanderlei: Very good, very good.

ITC: You have recently opened up your own gym in Vegas, how has that been working out?

Wanderlei: Yeah, I’m here now for training in the morning. My gym’s a big gym, I’m so happy with the space. It’s open for me and the other fighters. It’s a very good time.

ITC: You have a fight coming up this June against Rich Franklin, how are you training for this bout, and what is your game plan for a good all around fighter like Franklin?

Wanderlei: You know, I have a lot of time. I’m concentrating all my training on Jiu-Jitz, box, Muay Thai, and all basics. I have the space now. I’m going to study his game, and have a plan for him. Rich Franklin is a very good opponent, I’m so happy with him. I watched his fight with Anderson, you know, I have watched a few other fights. He likes to fight in the stand up too. I know he is going to train for the fight. I know we will put on a very, very good show for the fans.

ITC: You were undefeated for nearly five years in Pride Fighting Championship, which took place in a ring and allowed kicks to the head of a downed opponent, where as UFC is in a caged octagon and you can not kick a downed opponent in the head, which format do you enjoy more?

Wanderlei: I think you should be able to kick in the head, it’s a fun thing to do. I think in the future, they need to change it where you can knee in the head. You don’t have a lot of problems. A bunch has changed. But the kick on the ground is so aggressive, but knee in the ground you have no problems.

ITC: You and Rampage have fought three times, each time being a war. You recently said you would like a fourth fight, how would you see that fight going?

Wanderlei: Of course, I’m going to fight him again. I have a very good time, now I want to fight him again of course. After one or two fights, I come back to fight him again. He needs to enjoy now, because the next time is a different time.

ITC: You have fought a lot of opponents in your career, who is one fighter that stands out to you as someone you would like to fight that you haven’t crossed paths with yet?

Wanderlei: Rich Franklin is one of the guys I wanted to fight. He’s a tough guy. He’s an ex champion. He’s one of the guys I have never fight who I want to fight. It is a good fight for me, it is a good fight for him. I and him now have the same situation. He lose the last fight, I lose my last fight. It is a very important fight for us. It’s a good situation. I’m going to give my best, he going to give his best. I’m going to see my best time again. It is a very, very good fight.

ITC: You have one of the fiercest nicknames in all of MMA, who came up with “The Axe Murderer?

Wanderlei: One of my old friends gave me the nickname, many, many, many times ago, many many years ago, you know, and it kind of stuck.

ITC: Recently you have announced your move to middleweight, how do you feel you will do in the weight class?

Wanderlei: I think now it’s a different in weight, you know, 195 to 185, I talked to Dana White. Three events ago, I talked to him, I think he should create a class for 195. My normal weight is 208, and to cut down for 205, I don’t cut a lot of weight. And so for 185, it’s much different. 195 for me is perfect. I know there is a lot of divisions that have a lot of fighters, and maybe in the future he is going to create a division for 195. There is more fighters in my situation. 205 is good, but the guys in my division are 240 and they drop down for 205. There is a big difference now, then from five to seven years ago. You don’t have too much problems if you have fighters that weigh two, three, five pounds that doesn’t have a lot of difference.

ITC: You are known for having intense stare downs, what goes through your head when you are standing across from your opponent?

Wanderlei: Yeah, I have a lot of concentration, a lot of focus. Every fight, I come to fight, it’s very important to me. Every event I fight is a big event. This time everyone is going to see my fight, I’ll work, this is very important for me because I’m training a lot of months. My best is this time. I have a concentration, I want it.

ITC: You have been in many crazy fights throughout your career, which is the most memorable to you?

Wanderlei: I have a lot of fights, a lot of hard fights. But I have a very, very good time in the ring, and the octagon now, because I have fought with the best guys in the world. And it’s amazing. I think my first fight was a very good fight, my first and my second fight with Rampage was a great fight too. My first fight with Liddell was a good match. I have a lot of fights.

ITC: What is your biggest motivation for fighting?

Wanderlei: I love to fight, this is my life. Every time after the fight I need to stop for maybe one or two or three weeks after the fight. I need to stop to recover in my body. Before I open my gym, I wake up in the morning, and I don’t know where I’m going, cause every day it’s the same thing. I drink my shake and go to training. This is my life. My motivation is the crowd, the crowd is incredible, the energy of the fans is amazing for me, I love it. In America much more, because here the fans is more crowd, more energy for the fans to the fighters. Every time I’m going into the octagon, I stop at the outside of the octagon and I watch the public, it’s amazing because every time it is sold out, there is twenty-thousand people, it’s a big crowd, this is the best motivation for me. I do not fight for the money, I have a good life. I have my gym, I make money outside the ring. Now I’m fighting because I love to fight.

ITC: What do you enjoy doing outside of fighting?

Wanderlei: I love to read the books, I read a lot. I love to be with my fans. Stay with my wife. Because the days I’m training I don’t have a lot of time for relax, I love to stay with a lot of my family. And now I like to train with my students here in my gym, because I like giving classes to the beginners. It’s nice because you show the guys the right moves, I love to use my experience to help the new guys, it’s great for me.

ITC: What is your prediction for the Shogun/Liddell fight?

Wanderlei: This is a very, very good fight. I’m so happy because I’m going to see this fight live, because I’m going to Canada, to Montreal, to promote my fight. And it’s a very good feeling to see the fight live, I’m a lucky man, no? It’s a big fight, it’s a very, very good fight. It’s a tough fight for both, Chuck is a very tough guy, he is an example for a lot of guys because he’s been here around nine years. He throws hard punches. I think it’s a very, very tough fight for Shogun. Shogun, I trained with him a lot of years, he is a very, very tough guy. I know he has a good chin, but he needs to train a lot because Chuck is a very, very tough guy. It’s an amazing fight. I mean, how many times has there been better and better cards, no? There is a lot of good fights, and now we have Rashad and Lyoto, a lot of good fights. Shogun and Liddell is a very, very good match. I can’t wait to see the fight.

ITC: Thank you for taking the time for this interview, do you have any closing statements for your fans?

Wanderlei: Yeah, I want to say thanks to my fans, thanks for everyone that goes to my fights, they give me a good energy, a lot of it goes to my fans here in the United States. Understand that every time I do my best, I fight with my heart. I do my best to put on a good show for everybody. Every time, if I win or lose it don’t matter, because I love to fight, and I love to put on a show. But now I am training hard every day, and I want to invite everybody to my fight this June, I promise I’m going to give a very, very good show, and the fans are going to like it, they are going to love the fight. Thanks so much for the support from my fans.