"People said I was crazy" - Anderson Silva recalls being dismissed before his fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Anderson Silva has perennially been hailed as one of the greatest fighters to have graced the octagon. However, Silva was not met with the same enthusiasm after he revealed he was going to lock horns with a much younger Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
In a recent post on Instagram, Anderson Silva revealed that a legion of fans and pundits had scorned him for picking a fight against a former boxing champion in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
However, he shed some light on his mindset going into the fight and how determination and a deep passion for the art of combat sports helped him sail through the challenge that Chavez Jr. presented.
"Short after my last MMA fight I heard in the media from a certain someone that somebody my age should not be fighting and that it was a mistake that I was put to fight. One month after I received an offer to fight in a boxing match in Mexico against a former champion 10 years younger then me, people said I was crazy and I couldn’t do it, and it was something impossible for me. But when your self belief is strong, you are dedicated, and the love for what you do is greater then any opinion, the impossible is simply routine. Always believe in yourself," wrote Anderson Silva in a post on Instagram.
Anderson Silva is far from being done in the fight game
At the age of 46, Anderson Silva is seemingly looking for more opportunities to prove his doubtors wrong. While in conversation with Ariel Helwani on an edition of 'The MMA Hour', Silva revealed that he received tons of messages asking him to butt heads with Floyd Mayweather after his fight against Tito Ortiz and that he wasn't completely averse to the idea.
“When I finished the fight with Tito and I saw on my Twitter and my Instagram, everybody talking ‘you need to fight with [Floyd] Mayweather!’ I don’t know, maybe this happens or not. I’m prepared for that. I just try to do my best everyday and I think this is a good fight, me and Mayweather," said Anderson Silva.
Catch the entire segment of 'The MMA Hour' with Ariel Helwani and Anderson Silva right here: