UFC
Anderson Silva throws his support behind Jacare Souza for UFC Title bid
Oct 17, 2014 - 11:50:28 AM Anderson Silva throws his support behind Jacare Souza for UFC Title bid

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Anderson Silva has had a number of different takes on his future title aspirations as he returns from injury, and though he's not backing out of his latest comments that he wants to fight for the title again, he said this week that he's conceding the spot to teammate Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza for now.

"This is what happens - in my team we have Jacare in BlackHouse, we have Lyoto [Machida] and Khalil, a new athlete that's coming in who has all the weapons to possibly fight for the belt. I went through that phase and I have to respect that. Jacare is out there, he has my full support to fight for the belt," Silva said during a press conference this week (transcribed by FoxSports.com). "I'm in the UFC, too, just like him, but I've been through that phase."

"I'm not pretentious to go and fight for the belt right now. I think I have to qualify myself once again to have this opportunity again. So to leave this all very clear, we have Jacare, we have other athletes who are doing very well and are credentialing themselves to fight for the title. So nothing more fair for me, I've been through all that, I've been through that experience. I want to give them that opportunity for the guys that want to go in there and do that, go in there and do that. Nothing more fair than to let Jacare do it."

As for his latest take on when or if he'll fight for the title, Silva is now being non-committal on the topic.

"I don't know for me, maybe in the future, when I finish this fight, I'll fight three, two, four more fights and I'm back to fight for the belt," he said. "Now, my focus is my fight with Nick Diaz. In the future, I don't know. I'm waiting and it's God's decision. The first goal is God's decision, and the second is Dana White and my performance in the next fight."

Penick's Analysis: Jacare certainly deserves his opportunity, and it's likely he's going to get it after Vitor Belfort fights Chris Weidman in February. Silva's made it clear he has no intention of ever fighting Souza or Machida, so if Jacare were to capture the title, that in itself could simply end Silva's desire to get to a title fight. Of course, that's also if he actually has a desire to get back there. It's still not a given that he's got the drive to fight for the title again. Regardless, he's got to fight Nick Diaz first, and the future will come together from there.

[Anderson Silva art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]