Anderson Silva doesn’t believe Israel Adesanya is a younger version of himself
At UFC 234 in Australia, Anderson Silva makes his long-awaited return to the Octagon to take on streaking middleweight Israel Adesanya.
Since Adesanya started competing in the UFC, fans and himself have said he is a clone of Silva. He has said he modeled his game around the former middleweight champion. And, at UFC 234 he gets to show that he is better. Although they may fight similar, Silva isn’t buying that Adesanya is a ‘clone’ of him.
“Israel is a great fighter,” Silva said at a press conference. “I think he’s super talented, he’s young, he has a brilliant future ahead in this sport. I believe he might be a version of him and he’ll become a better version of himself. Israel is not my new version. “I think this fight is very interesting, because I believe this is the first time I have the opponent (with) the same style. That’s a good test for my martial arts skills.”
Although Adesanya is young and is a rising star in the UFC, many fans don’t like the fight between him and Silva. They believe Silva is too old and won’t put up much of a fight. However, Silva believes he has gotten better due to the layoff and will fight more like the dominant champion he was then his past couple of fights.
“Everybody is going to see the old Anderson, but more experienced,” Silva said. “I don’t have nothing to prove. I passed through different moments in the sport, I win, I lose, I have a lot of experience. I’m just doing something for my fans. I’m so happy to be back to fighting and I’m here. Every day I come to training and say, ‘Thank you God. Thank you for giving me one more opportunity to do something special.’”
Ultimately, at UFC 234 fans get to see if Silva of old returns, or if Adesanya will continue his rise up the middleweight rankings. Whoever wins the fight, may very well get the next title shot.
