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Wanderlei Silva is expecting a stand-up battle from Yoshihiro Akiyama when they meet at UFC 116 on July 3rd. Silva believes the Japanese judo stylist is going to stand right in front of him to exchange strikes - and he cannot wait.
“I think he will be the first guy I fight that isn’t going to run from me. All my other opponents run, I have to chase them down. I think Akiyama likes to fight like a man, old-school with the knuckles,” Silva says in the latest print edition of Fighters Only (on UK news stands now).
“That’s the fight I want to have and I am preparing for that fight. I am the kind of fighter that likes to stand toe-to-toe, that’s the best show for the fans. The fans cheer me because I fight that way but its tough. I receive the punches while I give them, that’s why my fights are so emotional. Its not like Lyoto Machida or Anderson Silva where guys move so much you can’t touch them. I stand toe-to-toe, I like the exchanges.”
Silva also revealed that his tendency to slip into bezerker mode and throw gameplans out the window has his coach Rafael Cordeiro driven mad. “Sometimes I make Rafael crazy because… after the guy hits me my game plan is gone. I want to just hit him! [Rafael] yells at me ‘Calm! Calm! Calm! Calm!’ - I get too excited.”
UFC 116 will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between defending champion Brock Lesnar and interim champion Shane Carwin. The winner of that match will be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the UFC.
“I think he will be the first guy I fight that isn’t going to run from me. All my other opponents run, I have to chase them down. I think Akiyama likes to fight like a man, old-school with the knuckles,” Silva says in the latest print edition of Fighters Only (on UK news stands now).
“That’s the fight I want to have and I am preparing for that fight. I am the kind of fighter that likes to stand toe-to-toe, that’s the best show for the fans. The fans cheer me because I fight that way but its tough. I receive the punches while I give them, that’s why my fights are so emotional. Its not like Lyoto Machida or Anderson Silva where guys move so much you can’t touch them. I stand toe-to-toe, I like the exchanges.”
Silva also revealed that his tendency to slip into bezerker mode and throw gameplans out the window has his coach Rafael Cordeiro driven mad. “Sometimes I make Rafael crazy because… after the guy hits me my game plan is gone. I want to just hit him! [Rafael] yells at me ‘Calm! Calm! Calm! Calm!’ - I get too excited.”
UFC 116 will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between defending champion Brock Lesnar and interim champion Shane Carwin. The winner of that match will be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the UFC.
Wanderlei is going to KO him I reckon and make a run at the Mw belt, I dont know how far he will get, Its a while since he has used his Grapping full stop and Id wonder if he would have a hope of keeping a good wrestler off him these days.