After his unanimous decision loss to Michael Bisping on Saturday, Anderson Silva took criticism for what observers saw as a tentative, fitful attacking style.
On Monday, Silva's coach Luiz Dorea offered one possible explanation for that perceived lack of output. Dorea, who cornered Silva for the fight, stated his charge believed he suffered a crack in his left leg—the same leg that was brutally fractured during his second fight with Chris Weidman in 2013.
"He felt a kick he landed in the first round, thought he cracked his leg and a screw moved," Dorea told Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting. "That limited his movements, made him stop attacking for a moment. I asked him to attack, but he said ‘professor, I’m feeling it, I have no confidence’."
According to the report, Silva underwent extensive tests after the bout. The leg was, indeed, injured during the fight, but the screws that were inserted during his operation to repair the fractured tibia and fibula were not compromised.
"He suffered an injury, but the screw didn’t move," Dorea said. "I don’t know how bad the injury was, but I know the screw didn’t move and he won’t need a surgery. He was in pain in the locker room, but he won’t need surgery. He was in pain, he couldn’t even put his shoes on, but he’s fine now."
Bisping won the fight despite a strange sequence in the third round that convinced Silva and his coaches that he had scored a knockout. Bisping dropped his mouthpiece, and as he asked referee Herb Dean for a break to reinsert the mouthpiece, Silva capitalized and threw a flying knee.
Englishman Bisping hit the mat in a heap at the same moment the horn sounded to end the round. Silva began celebrating, but Dean did not stop the contest.
Nothing but respect for a fellow martial artist when it's over. This is the truest form of… https://t.co/iNOsc6oPH8
— michael (@bisping) February 29, 2016
Silva appeared hesitant throughout the bout, including in the fourth round, when Bisping was still visibly hurt from the knee strike. That seeming inability to pull the trigger caused pundits to note that the 40-year-old Silva is greatly diminished from the fighter who ruled the middleweight division for seven years.
Silva (33-7-1) and his coaches also have said they did not believe the judges' decision was accurate, and have called for a rematch with Bisping. It is unclear whether that will materialize, or what fans should expect from Silva if it does, given that the Brazilian has now fought only twice in the past two years and does not have a win on his record since 2012.
If he remains tentative because of concerns over his repaired leg, that would appear to be another legitimate source of doubt in the ex-champ's mind.
