If her loss to Amanda Nunes is anything like her loss to Holly Holm, former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably battling a serious case of the blues right now. Rousey got stopped in just 48 seconds by the current women’s 135 lb title holder, her first fight back from a year’s hiatus following her first career loss to Holly Holm.
In the wake of all that, maybe it’s a good time to take some advice from another once dominant champ who knows a thing about getting stopped hard: Anderson Silva. “The Spider” hasn’t officially won a fight since his 2013 loss to Chris Weidman, a loss that ended a 7-year run of sporting dominance.
In a recent interview for Brazil’s Combate News, Silva gave his thoughts on Rousey’s return and future (transcript via MMA Fighting):
“Regardless of what happened, regardless of what will happen in your life, you have to keep your head up because what you’ve done is in history,” Silva said during an interview to Brazilian TV show Combate News. “Regardless of wins and losses, you have to worry about what you think its important in your life.
“I hope 2017 is a year of more accomplishments. If you continue fighting, I hope you come back well. My personal and technical opinion as a fighter is that you should choose better your opponents in your comeback. Don’t fight someone who’s so active as the champion. That was a wrong strategy. I hope you come back because you are a great athlete. God bless you.”
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“When Ronda did those movies, she had enough time to prepare. It happens,” Silva said. “She was away from fighting for a long time (before UFC 207), and lack of rhythm can become an issue. I don’t take anything away from the champion, she’s in a good run and I hope she continues and wins against whoever they put in front of her and stays as champion for the rest of her career, but those are things that happen. You get in there and you’re taking the risk of losing or winning. It’s natural. People have to understand that.”
Of course, often the best advice is the advice you can’t take yourself. 6-months after getting KO’d by Chris Weidman at UFC 162, Silva came back to take on… Chris Weidman, losing by a horrific leg break injury which kept him on the sidelines for a year and a half. His return bout against Nick Diaz was more successful, but failed drug tests have since wiped the win from Silva’s record.
Currently, Anderson is scheduled to face Derek Brunson at UFC 208 on February 11th in Brooklyn, New York. The card is set to be headlined by the debuting women’s featherweight title. A fight which, coincidentally, may have crowned the next contender to face Rousey, had she beat Nunes back in December.
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