Silva: ‘I’m superhero, but sometimes, my half-human fails’

The former UFC middleweight champion admits he he had the wrong strategy against Paul.

Moments after his loss to Jake Paul on Saturday night, Anderson Silva knew what went wrong for him.

In a competitive eight-rounder, Paul defeated Silva by unanimous decision in what is the biggest win of his career thus far. Though clear he was on his way to a win, the ‘Problem Child’ sealed the deal with a knockdown, sending the ‘Spider’ to the canvas in the final round. The judges’ scorecards were 77-74, 78-73 and 78-73 in favor of Paul, who improved to 6-0 as a professional.

Speaking to reporters at his post-fight press conference, Silva had no issue with admitting Paul was ‘better than him’ in the ring.

“I failed in the strategy, and the last round, Jake take a good punch and my base was not correct,” said Silva (video provided by MMA Fighting). “That’s what my coach said, my base was not correct and that’s [why] I took the punch. But I didn’t feel knocked out. I don’t feel power, but I wasn’t in good balance and that’s when I take the punch.

“I just talked to my coach: ‘I don’t believe it’. I trained hard not to do the same stupid position, but I’m human,” continued Silva. “I’m superhero, but sometimes, my half-human fails.”

When asked about a potential rematch with Paul, Silva left the door open for it, but had no interest in doing it for revenge.

“I think it’s very important that people respect the moment — Jake’s moment now,” said Silva. “I’m [a] black samurai. I know I lost. I know I failed in my whole strategy and my opponent win. And I need to respect that. I’m not the same [as] the other guys that fought with Jake. ‘Oh, I need revenge. I need rematch.’ I don’t know. Let’s go see what happens. Maybe, I don’t know.”

For his next challenge, Silva heads to Abu Dhabi to compete in a jiu-jitsu tournament. And after that, the former UFC middleweight champion expects to return to the ring.

“I can’t stop,” said Silva.