Last week, I nervously  stepped in to Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva’s gym to watch him train.  I also planned on doing an interview after his workout.  I’ve met Silva before and  believe it or not, he’s a very easy going guy.  Although Silva is really cool to his fans, I was feeling the butterflies in my stomach as he was finishing up his training.  I knew in a couple of minutes, I’d be interviewing one of the most ferocious and one of my favorite fighters in MMA.

After Silva got out of the ice trash bucket and changed in the locker room, he introduced himself to me and we did the interview.  Silva was scheduled to fight Yoshihiro Akiyama next weekend at UFC 116 but UFC announced this week that Silva dropped out because of a broken rib.  That’s too bad because a lot of fans like myself, were looking forward to the fight.

Below is the interview, where he talks about Akiyama and his former teammates, Shogun and Anderson Silva.

NERDSociety (NS):  How long do you stay in the ice bucket for and do you do it everyday?

Wanderlei Silva (WS): Today, I stayed for 7 minutes.  I don’t do it on a daily basis.  If it’s a hard workout, I usually go in.  If it’s light training, I don’t use it.  It’s not fun being in there.

Silva staying cool

NS:  Many fans have been wondering why your knees aren’t as effective in the UFC than they were in Pride, what’s the reason for that?
WS: I’m going to try and use it against my next opponent, Akiyama.  But he’s a real good fighter, he’s a judo gold medalist (2002 Asian Games) so you know he’s tough.  I’m thinking I have better chances of using my knees against him than in my other UFC fights.

NS:  How come you don’t wear Vale Tudo shorts anymore ?
WS: It’s the new style.  Some guys still like to use the vale tudo shorts, like Shogun.  To me the new MMA shorts are just more comfortable.

Shogun wearing the Vale Tudo shorts

NS:  There’s a rumor that Shogun and Anderson Silva will fight in the future, what are your thoughts?
WS: I’m thinking it will be an unbelievable fight.  It’s a fight I want to see between two great champions.

NS:  Who do you think will win?
WS: I don’t know.  Anderson is incredible but Shogun is also incredible.  Shogun has more to lose because he’s a new UFC champ. If Anderson losses, it’s not a really big deal because he fights in the lighter division and he has the belt for a long time.  But Anderson needs to take this fight seriously because he needs to prove to fans that he has a tremendous heart and he’s not afraid to fight anybody.  If he fights Shogun, everybody needs to respect him, win or lose.

NS:  A lot of fans call Akiyama, “Sexyama”, because he’s a good looking guy.  Who do you think is better looking, you or him?

WS: I never checked out at a guy like that in my life so I wouldn’t know (laughing).  Not even one.  There’s only one guy I look at in the mirror that’s handsome and that’s me (laughing).

The fighter they call Sexyama!

NS:  You’ve always been good and loyal to your fans, any final words?

WS: I want to thank my fans for the support and reading the interview.  I’ll put on a great show against Akiyama and it’ll be a war.  Thanks again for all the fans around the world that support me.

End Of Interview

I want to wish Wanderlei a fast recovery from his injury and a big thank you for the interview.

Below is an emotional Silva explaining his broken ribs.  He’s asking fans for support, you can leave him a message on facebook.

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