Anderson Silva says controversial outcome of UFC 210 scrap means Chris Weidman's 'luck ran out'

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – With Kelvin Gastelum pulled out of their UFC 212 appointment due to a potential U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) violation, Anderson Silva saw himself in the strange position of having to promote a fight alone.

While UFC Vice President of International Business Development Joe Carr says there’s no lack of candidates, fact is that there are no guarantees Silva (34-8 MMA, 17-4 UFC) will even get to make his highly awaited return to Brazilian soil on June 3d.

Talking about an opponent-less fight, Silva admits, is a tad weird. But, when it comes to his would-be rival, he’s not personally upset. Any explaining Gastelum has to do after testing positive for marijuana metabolites, Silva says, should not be directed at him.

“No, (I wasn’t upset) at all,” Silva told MMAjunkie following Tuesday’s UFC 212 press conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “It’s the fans he needs to explain himself to – the same way I had my problems, my flaws, and I had to explain myself to the fans. He will have to explain himself to his fans. It’s a shame, because he’s a young athlete, and this in a way will end up hurting his trajectory a bit.

“But my focus is on the fight, regardless of whom it will be against, focus on myself, on my team and my work.”

While he didn’t say it directly, Silva seems to be referring to his own issues with testing. After fighting Nick Diaz to a decision win following an injury layoff, Silva ended up testing positive for steroids, while Diaz tested positive for marijuana.

What would have been Silva’s first win since a UFC 153 TKO over Stephan Bonnar, back in 2012, became a no-contest. And, after serving his one-year suspension, Silva went on to drop decisions to current middleweight and light heavyweight champs Michael Bisping and Daniel Cormier, respectively.

The win-less streak was finally broken last February, with an unanimous call over Derek Brunson at UFC 208. But, considered by many to be the octagon G.O.A.T., Silva minimized the relief of getting his first official win in a while.

“It was normal,” Silva said. “It’s about training, a lot of training, and going in there happy. With a good head. There are variables, a fight is a fight, but I went in there to be happy. I’ve been through every stage of this sport, good and bad, so nothing else will make me go, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this happened.'”

It’s hard to disagree here, as Silva has certainly been in some “I can’t believe this happened” octagon moments. Two of them, of course, involved fellow former champ Chris Weidman – who, after pulling a massive upset to take the belt at UFC 162 went on to defend it in the UFC 168 rematch that ended with Silva’s horrific leg break.

The then-undefeated Weidman(13-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) has since gone on to lose the belt to Luke Rockhold, drop a second to Yoel Romero, and, more recently, land on the losing end of a very controversial UFC 210 stoppage against Gegard Mousasi.

Silva says he didn’t catch the UFC 210 battle in its entirety, considering he doesn’t “really watch” the UFC, and tuned into a boxing match instead. But, after reviewing the specific clip, he made a few conclusions.

“I quickly saw a clip the guys showed me on their phones,” Silva said. “The rule is very clear: He didn’t have his hand on the ground. So, he was kneed and the knee was legal. The rule is clear. If he has his hands on the ground, four points of contact, you can’t hit him. Mousasi lifted him off the ground when he was hitting. It was the ref’s mistake, obviously, and when he put his hands back there, he was defenseless.

“But these are things that happen. Weidman is a very lucky guy, and this time he wasn’t lucky. He’s very lucky, but his luck ran out. He had some luck for a while, and now it’s over.”

Asked to clarify if that meant he believed Weidman counted on luck, rather than skill, Silva left room for interpretation.

“A lot of luck,” Silva concluded. “A lot of luck.”

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