Anderson Silva Says to Expect a ‘New’ Anderson in Rematch with Chris Weidman at UFC 168

Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s longest title reign in UFC history came crashing down as a result of a well-placed left hand by Chris Weidman on July 6 at UFC 162.

The way the fight played out didn’t sit well with some people.  Silva is known for his showmanship.  He taunts and toys with his opponents, but on that night his antics backfired.

One of the biggest questions heading into the rematch scheduled for UFC 168 on Dec. 28 is will Silva change his style after suffering the first knockout loss in his 16-year career?

“This is my style.  I’ve been working hard for a long time in the UFC.  I’ve had great fights in here with the same position and the same style.  I don’t change nothing,” said Silva during a recent media press conference promoting the rematch.

“I committed an error and my error was that I stopped with my feet parallel to each other, which is being fixed right now.  And he took advantage of that position,” added the former titleholder.

One thing that has changed for Silva is his perspective.  “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone,” sang the glam rock band Cinderella, and those words ring true for the Brazilian superstar.

“I love what I do and I’ve always loved what I do.  When I started training, I never imagined that I’d get to the point that I’m at today.  I always imagined that I would hopefully be as good as my instructors and be able to teach class.  I never thought that I was going to have the success that I had being the UFC champion,” explained Silva.

“I think God really helps me and teaches you all the time.  I realize that I didn’t appreciate, or I didn’t value what I had.  And I can tell you that now, God works in mysterious ways, and now I realize what I had and I’m going to focus to go back and get what I had,” he added.

The former top pound-for-pound fighter in the world says a “new” Anderson is going to show up at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Dec. 28.

“My training has been going well.  I’m very excited to go out there and bring my belt back,” said Silva.  “I have nine more fights.  My focus is my rematch with Chris.  The new Anderson is coming.  Trust me.”