Pedro Rizzo Talks Anderson Silva: He Is Really Motivated And In Great Shape

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva will attempt to avenge his UFC 162 loss against Chris Weidman, as they rematch at this evening’s UFC 168. Silva will look to get payback for the second round knockout he suffered and gain back his title in the process.

One of Silva’s coaches, former UFC Heavyweight Pedro Rizzo, believes that Silva is in fact not fighting for the belt. ‘The Rock’ spoke to MMAFighting regarding Silva’s motivation for the fight:

“I think after that Weidman fight, after he lost the title, he put away the pressure and now he’s motivated to win this fight. He wants to beat Chris Weidman because he was the guy who beat him. Anderson started his career, he wanted to beat each fighter. He doesn’t care about the belt, he just wants to beat the guy who beat him.”

This could spell trouble for Weidman; a motivated Silva is bad news for any top tier fighter. It became clear that Silva was unmotivated in the wake of the first fight, and I think tonight’s main event will be a completely different fight.

“He’s spectacular. In the gym he wasn’t doing this, but whenever you’re in the ring with all the pressure and emotions? Anything can happen. But I think he’s going to do his strategy, and our strategy is to get in there, beat Chris Weidman, get away from the cage and go back home.”

I can’t honestly say that I give Weidman a chance in hell, not if Silva is fully motivated and in shape. ‘The All American’ is certainly an amazing athlete, and tough as nails; I just don’t think he will survive an early onslaught if ‘The Spider’ is on point.

“Anderson is 38 years old, and sometimes you feel tired of training, feel tired of all the pressure on your back. You feel like every time you step in the ring you have to prove something, and to keep your belt. So it’s a lot of pressure, and sometimes you get tired of that.”

“He’s really motivated for this. He can take the good from losing, and it motivated him. He’s ready to fight somebody who beat him, and I think it was good for him. I’ve never seen him in as great a shape as he is now.”

The way Rizzo is speaking, it looks like Silva has rediscovered his motivation. It’s not the first time that Silva has felt the urge to quit MMA; ‘The Spider’ nearly called it quits back in the Pride FC days. Fast forward to present day and it seems history could repeat itself, although he has to beat a guy that knocked him out recently.

I’m hyped for UFC 168, especially if Silva comes in at 100%. At the very least, all questions regarding Silva and Weidman’s rivalry should be settled.