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Wanderlei: Victory Over Le ‘Came at the Right Moment

“I know this sport has no more space for falls,” Silva said at the UFC 139 post-fight press conference. “We are fighting in the best event in world and these are the best [fighters] in the world. I know the responsibility of being here. There is only space for the best guys in the world.”

Recovered from a knockdown sustained in the first frame, Silva began round two in much the same fashion as the opening stanza, keeping his distance and absorbing a number of kicks from the former Strikeforce middleweight king.

“[Le] has heavy legs,” Silva told UFC.com following his win. “[He throws] tough kicks and they hurt. [They were] strong kicks.”

As the round progressed, however, Silva found his range and stepped inside to deliver some of his patented hooks to Le’s head. Pressing his foe against the cage, Silva landed a beautiful high kick and grabbed a front headlock when Le tried to clinch.

From his prone position, Le ate a series of knees while doing his best to escape. Once again upright, Le found himself in the position that helped build Silva’s legend: the Thai plum. The Brazilian continued his attack, drilling Le with an elbow over the top before badly breaking his nose with a knee to the face.

“My coach told me to attack more in the second round. That was the plan,” Silva explained. “I hit him hard with the knee and I felt he was close to the finish.”

Following the shot, a stunned Le fell to the floor before gamely digging for a single-leg takedown. However, it was not to be, as Silva met him with a solid sprawl and began pounding away with hammerfists until referee Dan Stell waved off the contest at 4:49 of round two.

Aware of the bout’s importance and the potential effect of a defeat upon his career, Silva expressed his jubilation after scoring his first Octagon finish since 2008.

“It’s wonderful [to win]. I can’t talk after my last fight [against Leben] It’s embarrassing that I lost like that,” said Silva. “But in this job, every weekend, [the UFC] makes one event better than the [last]. It was a tough moment for me [in my career], but this victory came at the right moment. This was a great moment in my life.”

Wanderlei: Victory Over Le

Even in Victory, Wanderlei Silva Knows He’s One Loss Away From Retirement

Even in decisive victory, White expressed his opinion that Silva is one fight away from being persuaded into retirement.

“In my opinion, I’m no doctor, but when it gets to a point where you start getting knocked out on a regular basis; I don’t want to see that anymore. I don’t want to see it,“ said White following the UFC 139 event.

“Wanderlei is a warrior. He’s been around forever. People love him and I love him. He’s been great to us and to the sport. I’m not going to have that stuff happen,” added the UFC president. “I’m not doing that. I don’t want to see these guys stick around past their prime.”

Yes, it is true. The former Pride champion known as the “Axe Murderer” is no longer in his prime, but he’s still a fan favorite and competitive. He’s built a career on his aggressive style and highlight reel finishes, and while his best fighting days may be behind him, he’s still providing fans with clips to add to his highlight video.

White isn’t concerned whether or not Silva still puts spectators in the seats. He’s concerned for Silva’s well-being, even after a UFC 139 Fight of the Night performance.

“I’ve been very open and honest about it. He looked good tonight,” stated White about Silva’s performance.

“Wanderlei Silva is a guy whom we in this company respect and care about very much. He is a very good person. He’s been a great asset to us,” said White during the UFC 139 post-fight press conference. “I said it about Chuck Liddell and I’ll say it about Wanderlei Silva too.

“When guys start getting consecutive knockouts and you keep them in there fighting… Can we keep Wanderlei Silva rolling and keep him fighting? Of course we can, but I don’t want to make one dollar of that kind of money. I want to make sure that Wanderlei Silva is healthy,” explained White.

“He’s got a great business in Las Vegas. He’s got a gym and a school. We’ve seen it in boxing and I just saying, I don’t care what anybody says or what anybody thinks, we’re not going to see it here in the UFC. When it is time, I’ll sit down with these guys and we’ll talk about options and we’ll go from there.

“We’re not the type of promoters that say, ‘alright Wanderlei, it’s over. See you later and good luck to you.’ Wanderlei Silva has been a very good guy to all of us in this company. We respect him, we care about him, and we don’t want to see him stick around inside the Octagon too long. That’s why I talk about guys hanging it up when I think it’s time.”

Silva knows where he stands with the UFC organization and its president.

“I know there’s no more space for fouls. We’re fighting in the best events in the world. I know the responsibility to be here. They only have the space for the best guys in the world over here, you know. There’s no more space for fouls. I know that,” said Silva at the press conference following the event.

Is Wanderlei Silva Living on Borrowed Time? | MMAWeekly.com

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[Cat--Smasher]

[kingrobert]

I love Wandy but I dont think he can take a shot anymore..He looked a bit slow. dont get me wrong Im really glad he won. I have been waiting for him to use his knees since he entered the UFC. I really hope he can string some wins together..

[beardown98]

Wand is by far and away my fav fighter I watched the fight a second and third time and neither wand or cung le looked really good. I think wand was to tentative and that's due to his lack of ability to take a solid punch or kick to the head it has changed the way he fights and he doesn't have the speed needed to be an in and out point fighter. I hope he steps away from the fight game before he gets ko'd or seriously hurt. I'll watch his every fight because when he wins I can't explain how excited I get. When he loses the exact opposite. I hope he watches the tape from the fight and sees what I see.

[NLRepublic]

Not that I feel like Wandy is going to go on much of a run or anything, but man that was so awesome to see last night