Dec-31-2009

A Renewed Silva Arrives in 2010

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By Debbie Lee

Jamais desistir. Translation: Never quit. The Portuguese phrase is inked handsomely across the underside of Thiago Silva’s right forearm in black. It’s one of many tattoos that blanket the 27-year-old’s body, but this one serves a specific purpose, reminding him to always press on in the face of adversity.

“It’s the philosophy responsible for the success I’ve had in my career so far,” he recently said. “And it will continue to keep me on top of any opponent inside of the Octagon.”

Phsaw! I call bull, but for all the right reasons. Watch any of the nine first-round finishes in his last eleven fights, and you would be hard-pressed to believe that Silva has ever had a real chance to test this motto. If he can go the distance or survive any perilous situation, we wouldn’t know it, as he’s rarely had his back against the wall. For now, we’ll just have to take his word for it.

“What I believe is that a fight is a fight,” he said via his translator. “I’ve got to be ready to fight three rounds, whatever it comes down to… To finish in the first round is just a bonus – a plus, but I’m ready for three.”

But hey, why prove you have heart or stamina when you can crush the majority of your opponents in a matter of minutes?

The most recent case in point: his 95-second victory over Keith Jardine at UFC 102 last August. “Devastating” and “brutal” are among the most common adjectives thrown around when describing his winning performance, but as any Silva fan knows, there’s something far more frightening about the Brazilian than his left hook on that particular night – the fact that he’s had three faster finishes before it.

That said, there’s one person who’s not buying all this hype and praise, and that’s Silva. Remind him of his accomplishments and he responds in a blasé manner. It’s an intentional strategy. Drowning out the chatter and staying focused on his game is all part of a New Year’s resolution – one that he’ll immediately put into practice on January 2, when he faces Rashad Evans at UFC 108.

“One of my resolutions is to be less emotional as I can be,” said Silva. “I am going in there to do a job, do my best, and get the win.” He later reiterated, “Be more intelligent… that’s the new game.”

It’s not as if the original game was that terrible. Rushing straight out of the Octagon gates with a first-round TKO over James Irvin at UFC 71, Silva has rarely disappointed since his 2007 debut. One opponent after the other, he continued to maintain a perfect record; three consecutive victories later – over Tomasz Drawl, Houston Alexander, and Antonio Mendes – he was cruising on the fast track to a potential title shot against then-light-heavyweight champ Evans.

But first he would have to slay The Dragon. Though Silva felt up to the task of facing fellow undefeated Brazilian Lyoto Machida at UFC 94, he fell short at the tail end of the first round.

“It was painful,” he said of the knock out loss – the first on his record (now 14-1). “It's nasty to lose to somebody. But you learn from your mistakes and learn from your losses.”

Specifically, Silva learned about the holes in his mental game; hence the New Year’s resolution.

“Definitely, [I was nervous or tentative],” he said. “That was a big stage. I think I can correct the mistakes from that fight. I’m not overlooking anything else right now, but I just want to get the chance to fight him again.”

Now claiming to have renewed his style, Silva has taken his first steps towards redemption with a win over Jardine. Fans cheered as he made his signature throat slashing gesture at the end of the fight, but one person wasn’t very amused: The Dean of Mean’s teammate, Evans. Make what you will of either man’s reaction that night, but Silva is careful to avoid selling his next fight as a grudge match.

“The win boosted my confidence after the loss to Lyoto,” he said. “[The gesture] wasn't related directly to Jardine. I just came back from a big loss and I was just making a point to say, ‘Okay, I'm back.’” As for facing one Jardine’s best friend, “There is no bad blood at all on my part. Like I said before, this is my job… I want to fight the best, and Rashad is one of the best in the world. And coming from a camp like Greg Jackson’s, I have a lot of respect for him.”

Evans (18-1-1), whose only loss is also at the hands of Machida, is the heavy favorite to take the win; at the very least, he’s expected to take his opponent into rare territory – a second round. But Silva doesn’t mind playing the underdog in this pending light heavyweight battle.

“I’m trying not to get emotionally involved anymore,” he insisted. “So it doesn’t really bother me at all.” Instead of worrying about the odds, he’s concentrating on the game plan, which is to “go in there and fight my best. I’m a complete fighter that will fight on the ground or stand up. Whatever shows up, I’ve got to be ready for it. What I want is to be the champion, and the win against Rashad would put me on track [back to] Lyoto.”

However vague or generic that might sound, this new, low-key attitude is here to stay, at least for however long Silva can stick to his resolution of staying emotionally detached. True, New Year’s resolution statistics are notoriously grim, but surely he can hang in there until the second.

However, should he waver and let Evans get the advantage at any point on Saturday, at least the world will finally see whether or not that tattoo actually comes in handy.