Thomas Almeida is ready to prove Anderson Silva wrong.
The Spider caused a stir among the Brazilian contingent in the UFC by recently saying that he believes just two Brazilian fighters – Jose Aldo and Jacare Souza – have the mettle to become a UFC champion.
Silva’s comments came as a massive slap across the face to many including the likes of Junior dos Santos, who has a win over current heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, Demian Maia, who has been on the rampage in the welterweight division and Claudia Gadelha, who lost a very close split decision to Joanna Jedrzejczyk and is set for her crack at the belt later this year.
Another fighter who many see as a future UFC champion is Thomas Almeida.
The 24-year-old is unbeaten in professional MMA, getting the finish in 19 of his 20 wins. Almeida revealed his disappointment over Silva’s comments to MMA Junkie ahead of his main event fight against fellow undefeated hot prospect Cody Garbrandt (8-0) at UFC Fight Night 88.
“What Anderson Silva may say doesn’t affect me. I know my own worth, where I want to get, my willpower, my objective, and why I fight. I fight for my fans, for the Brazilian people, for my team, and for my family. I’m confident I’ll reach my goals.”
“It just makes me sad to see comments like that. Anderson represented our country very well in the UFC. I think he may still have the record for the most title defenses.”
Almeida believes that a fighter of Silva’s stature should really be offering words of encouragement to his compatriots who he believes will capture more UFC gold in the future.
“As a great icon, he should give a good example. He should encourage other fighters to work harder to reach championship status in the world’s greatest organization. I know that we Brazilians are giving our best to represent and green-and-yellow flag. We will have other belts, and keep the ones we have.”
