He’s not changing camps, at least not in spirit. From the sound of it, this will just be a series of sojourns away from home base to different camps and environments, to see if he can get a bead on just what is going wrong. Because it sounds like the problems for Erick Silva’s in the cage performances aren’t so easily fixed as “work on your cardio” or “try and be more patient.” For “Indio,” it may be time for some new perspective, for a few new voices in his ear. That’s the impression he gave to Combate in a recent interview after his loss to Matt Brown at UFC Fight Night: Brown vs. Silva. (transcription via Fernando Arbex)
“I was good in the first round. I did what was planned, which was explore the kicks in the beginning. I hit him with a good kick, we trained a lot to do that. It was a flaw of Brown’s where I knew I could catch him. He was very hurt and I tried to submit him. I’m sure that he trained a lot of jiu-jitsu to defend from his back. I confess that I don’t understand what happened there. I’ve trained more than everybody. I sparred five rounds with different athletes. My team and I were too confident for this fight because I was well trained. Man, I posted stuff saying that my cardio was excellent to fight five rounds because I knew that I was ready. I didn’t understand. I was tired in the first round, I got scared when I felt tired. When I felt the tiring in my legs, I told Distak, my head coach: “I don’t understand”. I felt a low blow but I don’t know if that was the reason. I don’t know if it was the adrenaline, my recovering, I confess that I don’t know.”
Of course, a big part of that, as Silva readily admits, was his surprise at just how tough Brown was to put away:
I’ve faced a very tough guy. I was surprised by his will. I remember that I was on his back and he was screaming because of the pain. He persisted, he had his merits. He is tough, he has a lot of will and deserved the win. My body wasn’t responding. It wasn’t lack of training. I have to sit with my team and analyse everything, my mistakes, the weight cut, if that was the reason. Anyway, I don’t want to blame anything. I’ve seen in this fight that my place isn’t yet to be fighting with the top guys. These guys are too far ahead of me. But I won’t give up. I’ll continue in my path, climbing step by step.
It’s good to see that Silva hasn’t been disheartened by the loss. He’s an unquestionably talented fighter, and as we’ve seen with the pairing of specific fighters and specific camps, it is possible for someone to find that voice that really speaks to them and helps them fight in just the right way to their skills. That may be the kind of search Silva needs to go on, but it sounds like one he’s already started.
I’m contacting some people and closing deals to come to America to train. I’m sure that this will be very good for me. I need to learn new stuff. I won’t change my team, there is no chance. But, I also have to train in other places. I’ll meet great fighters in their fight camps, to watch what they do differently. I know that something lacks in my game. I know also that I have what it needs to come closer of the top. I always have opportunities to finish the fight, but I lose them. So, I have to find which are these flaws.
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