By Guilherme Cruz

Photo Josh Hedges

Thiago Silva got a perfect win over Brandon Vera, on the first edition of UFC in 2011, and showed a different side of him: a strategic guy. Known for his aggressiveness, the Brazilian adopted a smarter posture and dominated the 15 minutes of fight, and told, on an interview to TATAME, that he might keep this change for his bout against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, scheduled for UFC 130.

“The fans can always expect much aggressiveness coming from me, this is something I’ll never change about myself, but it’ll be aggressiveness and strategy altogether. The level here is pretty high, we can get everything only with our hearts”, tells the athlete of ATT, who explained the provocation during the fight with Vera and commented the controversy “drumming” on the last  round, responding to the critics of the American Jon Jones. “I see this guy as a jerk. Everybody’s a professional fighter and all fights include provocations. Brandon Vera said he’s break my legs, that I wasn’t on his level. I don’t say things, I do”, said.

How are things after the win?

Monday I’ll return to my trainings… Thanks God, UFC gave me a good opportunity, against Rampage, and I took two weeks off so I could rest a bit and don’t get injured when I return. I’m thrilled!

You said, before Brandon Vera’s fight, that you wanted the knockout, but you got the win anyway. What did you think of the fight?

I was looking for the knockout, but he opened some space and practically conceded me the takedowns. He did a great job defending himself, it was hard for me to finish the fight. I’m not a good submitter, but I tried to punch him hard. He’s tough, has a good defense, but I dominated the fight.

Did you get that “want some more” taste for not having knocked him out?

You always get it, right? But I fought cautiously. It was my first fight after a year and we didn’t know how my back would react. I had to be more tactic. The guys are used to see me differently, but I’m 28 and I got 3 hernias. If I want to keep my career, I have to adapt, and we’ll evolve little by little.

You and Brandon Vera teased each other after the first round, and he returned more aggressive on the following round and you gave some little slaps on his back on the third round. It was all provocation or did you tried to make him to make a mistake?

We never do anything without a reason. What I did in there was to take his focus away. The only provocation I did was when I slapped him on his back, the others I did because my hands were aching when I punched him because I broke my finger. So it would open me the way to try a submission or something like it. The only provocation was that one so he would lose his focus, and there’s no other reason.

Jon Jones criticized a lot your attitude, claiming that it wasn’t respectful and that a martial artist shouldn’t do such thing… What did you think of it?

This guy is a jerk. Everybody’s a professional fighter and all fights include provocations. Brandon Vera said he’s break my legs, that I wasn’t on his level. I don’t say things, I do. You get recognized when you do things. I’m a professional fighter, but I can’t always please everybody. There’s always somebody behind the computed with a plate filled with French fries, ready to criticize you. I fight for the fans, for the money and to put my name up there. Talking is too much easy, nobody knows what goes on in your life, your trainings… I think I did my job. Who likes it, likes it, but you can dislike it if you want.

How do you think Rampage’s game matches yours?

Our games match because we both like to fight standing. He avoids the ground game, doesn’t take the guys down, he wants to exchange. It’ll be a great fight because it’ll have a bit of everything.

What kind of Thiago should we expect against Rampage: aggressive or tactic?

The fans can always expect much aggressiveness coming from me, this is something I’ll never change about myself, but it’ll be aggressiveness and strategy altogether. The level here is pretty high, we can get everything only with our hearts, but the aggressiveness will always be there.