Wanderlei Silva knows a thing or two about instilling fear in an opponent’s mind.
‘The Axe Murderer’ is the owner of arguably the most intimidating face-off in MMA history and his tornadic fight style, coupled with his icy stare and trademark pre-fight wrist roll, left many rivals genuinely afraid of what might befall them once the opening bell rang.
A veteran of 49 professional fights, Silva has become quite adept at recognising a glint of fear or doubt in a fighter’s eyes.
He made a name on his ability to out-menace opponents and he reckons he sees fear in none other than UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
Silva has suggested that ‘The Notorious’ is afraid of Jose Aldo and claimed that’s why McGregor has now moved to higher weight classes, rather than return to 145lbs to defend his title.
McGregor’s third straight bout away from featherweight has left Aldo adamant that he’s had enough of the fight game and crying out to be released from his UFC contract, even hinting that he might throw his next fight if he doesn’t get his way.
“McGregor fears Aldo, which is understandable,” Silva said in an interview with Combate, as translated by Bloody Elbow. “I would be scared, too. Aldo is hands down the best fighter in the division and you can’t just mess with someone like that. When you mess with a fighter like that, it’s not about the money anymore. My dad used to say you don’t mess with a man. So don’t mess with Aldo. If you want his fans and his show, you need to respect him and not make empty promises.
“But if I could give Aldo a piece of advice today, it would be for him to calm down a think about his fans. He’s still very young and has 10, 12 fights left in him and he can’t leave his fans, like me, without that fight and many others he can still have. Besides, he can still bring a lot of joy to our country.”
McGregor knocked Aldo out in 13 seconds when they met in the main even of UFC 194 last December and it seems an odd suggestion to claim the victor in such a comprehensive win would be afraid of the man who was rendered unconscious but, hey, maybe Silva knows something we don’t.
Either that or he’s just backing up his Brazilian buddy. That’s not for us to say.
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