The day is coming for Anderson Silva to put his belt on the line versus Chris Weidman. Confident, the champion says nothing his opponent can do will surprise him. Photo: Screenshot

On Tuesday afternoon, Anderson Silva, Chris Weidman and Dana White took part in a press conference via phone to promote UFC 162, scheduled for July 6 in Las Vegas.

The UFC’s middleweight champion could not dodge the journalists’ curiosity to know how he felt about the fact that Georges St-Pierre said in several interviews that he not only roots for Chris Weidman, but in fact believes the American is going to win easily.

As always, Silva kept his cool and addressed GSP’s words.

“Imagine if I were to listen to all that’s said about me,” he said. “Everyone can do and say as they please. [GSP] had his chance to step up and fight me, but chose not to. A talking parrot is better than a legless turtle.”

The “Spider” also said he does not see Weidman as the biggest challenge of his career, and referred to his own experience and long journey inside the Octagon to explain his viewpoint.

“Every bout is a new challenge,” he said. “Whoever is better prepared is going to win. I’ve been fighting since I was 8 years old, so to me there isn’t a lot of new stuff in there. Nothing he can do will surprise me. Defeat and victory walk side by side. My experience makes me not worry about what my opponent is going to do. I worry about being better than I am, not better than Chris Weidman.”

UFC 162

MGM Arena, Las Vegas, USA

July 6, 2013

Anderson Silva vs Chris Weidman

Frankie Edgar vs Charles Do Bronx

Tim Keneddy vs Roger Gracie

Mark Muñoz vs Tim Boetsch

Cub Swanson vs Dennis Siver

Undercard

Chris Leben vs Andrew Craig

Norman Parke vs Kazuki Tokudome

Gabriel Napão vs Dave Herman

Edson Barboza vs Rafaello Trator

Seth Baczynski vs Brian Melancon

Mike Pearce vs David Mitchel

Cain Velasquez acerta Junior Cigano. Foto: UFC/Divulgação.

A MGM Arena em Las Vegas recebeu a edição 155 do UFC, nesse sábado. No octagon, Junior Cigano acabou superado por Cain Velasquez e perdeu o cinturão dos pesados. Na batalha mais sangrenta do evento Jim Miller venceu Joe Lauzon por decisão unânime dos jurados. O duelo recebeu o prêmio de melhor luta da noite, já o bônus pelo nocaute e pela finalização do evento  ficaram com Todd Duffee e John Moraga, respectivamente.

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UFC 155
MGM Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
29 de dezembro de 2012

Cain Velasquez venceu Junior Cigano na decisão unânime dos jurados

Jim Miller venceu Joe Lauzon na decisão unânime dos jurados

Costa Philippou venceu Tim Boetsch por nocaute técnico aos 2min11s do R3

Yushin Okami venceu Alan Belcher na decisão unânime dos jurados

Derek Brunson venceu Chris Leben na decisão unânime dos jurados

Eddie Wineland venceu Brad Pickett na decisão dividida dos jurados

Erik Perez venceu Byron Bloodworth por nocaute técnico aos 3min50s do R1

Jamie Varner venceu Melvin Guillard na decisão dividida dos jurados

Myles Jury venceu Michael Johnson na decisão unânime dos jurados

Todd Duffee nocauteou Phil De Fries aos 2min4s do R1

Max Holloway venceu Leonard Garcia na decisão dividida dos jurados

John Moraga finalizou Chris Cariaso no triângulo de mão aos 11s do R3

Velasquez wants his belt back. Photo by Josh Hedges, courtesy of Zuffa LCC via Getty Images.

As solid and fierce a heavyweight as they come, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos’ challenger for the UFC title, demonstrated that he has feelings — at least when it comes to the heavyweight belt. The 30-year-old former champion said in a video interview on Affliction’s YouTube page that he needs to fill a void.

“Something feels missing,” Velasquez said. “I need that belt. I need to be the top guy, the No. 1 guy. This is where I’m supposed to be. I’m going to go in and take that belt and keep it.”

In the video, Velasquez revisits the mistake he made during his first encounter with “Cigano” in November of 2011, when he was knocked out in the first round. The loss came before the eyes of millions of spectators who tuned in to the live broadcast of the event by network TV channels Fox and Globo in the U.S. and Brazil, respectively.

“The thing I learned from the first fight [with dos Santos] is, if I have a game plan, I need to execute it. Punch, kick, wrestle for a purpose every time. Anytime I go into a fight, the fans are pretty much pleased. Even though I’m going in with my game plan, my style of fighting is really aggressive and fast-paced. I don’t really like hitting submissions. I’d rather punch guys in the face. That’s what I do, and I think people want to see that. So that’s what they get,” said the Jiu-Jitsu brown belt from team Guerilla JJ.

Yesterday, MiddleEasy.com started a bit of a buzz by releasing a video suggesting that Cain had suffered a serious knee injury 14 days prior to his first encounter with his Brazilian dethroner.

*Following the publishing of this article, the YouTube video of Velasquez’s injury was made private and unavailable.

UFC 155
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
December 29, 2012

• Junior Cigano vs Cain Velasquez
• Jim Miller vs Joe Lauzon
• Tim Boetsch vs Costa Philippou
• Yushin Okami vs Alan Belcher
• Chris Leben vs Karlos Vemola
• Brad Pickett vs Eddie Wineland
• Erik Perez vs Byron Bloodworth
• Michael Johnson vs Myles Jury
• Leonard Garcia vs Cody Mckenzie
• Phil de Fries vs Todd Duffee

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Velasquez quer o cinturão de volta. Foto: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LCC via Getty Images

Peso pesado de porte e feições de assustar, Cain Ramirez Velasquez, oponente do campeão Junior Cigano no próximo dia 29 de dezembro, demonstrou que também tem sentimentos. Pelo menos em relação ao cinturão dos pesados, objeto que ele vai tentar recuperar no UFC 155, em Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Sinto saudades do cinturão”, disse o ex-campeão de 30 anos, em entrevista em vídeo para o site da Affliction, seu patrocinador. Preciso dele. Preciso ser o número um dos pesados. Quero pegar o cinturão de volta e mantê-lo comigo por muito tempo”.

Cain voltou a falar sobre o que errou na primeira luta com Cigano, em novembro de 2011, quando foi nocauteado ainda no primeiro assalto, diante de milhões de espectadores que viam o evento via Fox e Globo, no Brasil.

“Aprendi na luta com Junior Cigano que quando você traça uma estratégia tem que segui-la. Socos, chutes e quedas têm um propósito. A minha estratégia para esta luta será a mesma. Os fãs gostam das minhas lutas, o meu estilo vai continuar o mesmo. Eu não finalizo, eu bato na cara. É o que os fãs querem, e é o que eles vão ter”, disparou Velasquez, que é faixa-marrom de Jiu-Jitsu na academia Guerilla JJ.

Cain Velasquez, que sofreu nocaute para Junior Cigano ainda no primeiro round do evento UFC on Fox 1, vem de vitória sobre Antônio Silva, no UFC 146, no qual venceu o “Pezão” por nocaute técnico. Já Cigano vem de vitória sobre Frank Mir, também no UFC 146, e tem apenas um revés em seu cartel de 13 lutas. Cigano está invicto no UFC. Cigano tem 11 nocautes na carreira, enquanto Cain está com nove.

Hoje de manhã, um vídeo divulgado pelo MiddleEasy.com criou um burburinho, por levantar a suspeita de que Cain teria machucado feio o joelho 14 dias antes da primeira luta entre Cain e Cigano. Veja e tire suas conclusões.

UFC 155
MGM Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
29 de dezembro de 2012

Junior Cigano vs Cain Velasquez

Jim Miller vs Joe Lauzon

Tim Boetsch vs Costa Philippou

Yushin Okami vs Alan Belcher

Chris Leben vs Karlos Vemola

Brad Pickett vs Eddie Wineland

Erik Perez vs Byron Bloodworth

Michael Johnson vs Myles Jury

Leonard Garcia vs Cody Mckenzie

Phil de Fries vs Todd Duffee