CINCINNATI – Following a delay in his visa being
issued, Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva
left later than usual from Brazil and arrived in town late Thursday morning.
Most of the other UFC 77 fighters were already in town by
Monday or Tuesday.
Government offices in Brazil were closed this past Friday
and Monday, which caused the delay. Silva received his visa on Wednesday and
left Brazil at about 11 p.m. local time. He arrived in Cincinnati around 10
a.m. EDT.
Despite being a little frustrated with the delay, he
indicated that he still feels “very relaxed, very comfortable.”
Following his arrival, Silva immediately got down to
business and had a productive training session with his Black House teammates
and good friend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
On Thursday evening, his weight was already down to about
190 pounds and he should only need to cut four to five pounds before weigh-ins
on Friday, which is standard procedure for the Brazilian.
Even with his late arrival, Silva is prepared for whatever
comes before him on Saturday night said manager Ed Soares.
“Anderson is prepared to take the fight anywhere it goes …
he’ll see where Rich is going to make the first mistake, and as soon as he
makes the mistake, he’s going to capitalize on it.”
That’s not to say that he is overconfident. He did knock
Franklin out in their first meeting a year ago, but Silva has shown much
respect for the former champion leading up to this fight.
"I'm confident going into this fight, but I'm always
confident going into every fight,” he stated. “I never underestimate any
opponent, especially Rich Franklin. Everybody knows that when Rich Franklin goes
in there, he goes in there to bang, and that he's been training really
hard."
Soares stated that Silva is happy to give Franklin the
opportunity that Franklin gave him a year ago and feels that it is sure to be
one of the fight’s of the night.
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MMAWEEKLY UFC 77 VIDEO EXCLUSIVES
As
part of our ongoing coverage of UFC 77, MMAWeekly has exclusive video
interviews with Anderson Silva prior to leaving Brazil and challenger Rich
Franklin, Stephan Bonnar, and Jorge Gurgel from Cincinnati.
