Tragic death of close friend and Navy Seal shatters Anderson Silva
UFC legend Anderson Silva, reeling after the recent death of a close friend and Navy Seal in Syria at the hands of a suicide bomber, is using his ‘superpower’ for good.
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A suicide bomber from ISIS walked into a restaurant in the Syrian town of Manbij a fortnight ago, detonating his vest and killing 16 people.
Among the victims was American Navy Seal Scott Wirtz, a longtime friend of UFC legend Anderson Silva, who has been left heartbroken and angry.
Silva, training in Melbourne for his fight against rising star Israel Adesanya on Sunday week at Rod Laver Arena, cannot attend Wirtz’s funeral in St Louis on Wednesday, but will be using the memory of his friend to inspire his planned victory.
Silva is incensed that groups like Islamic State continue to murder – Wirtz was one of four Americans killed in the attack – in the name of religion.
“I lost my friend a couple of weeks ago, in Syria they killed soldiers, and one of the soldiers inside was my great friend for a long time, he was a Navy Seal,” Silva told The Daily Telegraph.
“When I saw that, the war, the people fighting for nothing – it’s not fighting for nothing but they don’t respect life – because everybody is the same in front of God.
“Of course, people believe in different Gods, but life is important, the respect for life is important.
“When I visit the kids at the children’s hospital, I see how much these kids are fighting for life, and then people are using their power to destroy life, I don’t understand.
“Why are people doing this? People need to think that life is important, for everyone, that’s the big present God gives to everyone. It doesn’t matter if you believe in different Gods or not, I don’t believe any God likes people destroying lives, killing people.
“I’m very sad talking about this, I’ve seen life from different angles, I’ve seen my kids grow up, the kids of my friends grow, that’s life, so make something special of it.
“I’m 43 now, you think more about these things now.”
While he is regarded as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, Silva (34-8, one no contest) will start as an underdog against Adesanya (15-0).
Many say he is past his prime and should have retired years ago, but it’s the experiences of loss like that of Wirtz catapulting Silva to turn back the clock at UFC 234.
“I try to wake up every day and feel life, think about how everyone in this world is so lucky because they have life,” Silva said.
“Imagine how many people, how many kids, don’t have the same energy, don’t have the same body, like you and me.
“A lot of people die in the world through war, from anger.
“When you think about this, you try to help people. That’s Anderson now, I try to help people make their lives better.
“In my life I’ve lost a lot of friends, friends who were soldiers.
“I saw kids dying when I visit children’s hospitals, kids have cancer, and I just think about how much I have, how lucky I am and how I can help people. That’s my superpower.
“I have a voice to do something, to give my hand to people, that’s the superpower UFC has given me, and the big responsibility God has given me, to help people.”
Silva holds the record for the longest reign as a UFC champion, at 2457 days from 2006-13, notching 16 title defences before losing to Chris Weidman.
The winner of the Silva-Adesanya fight is set to earn a title shot against the winner of the match between middleweight champion Robert Whittaker versus challenge Kelvin Gastelum on the same card.
While Silva is embarking on an acting career, will be a guest judge of a new reality show, and is training celebrities at his Spider Gym in Los Angeles, his motivation to become UFC champion once more remains insatiable.
“Victory stays inside your heart, inside your mind,” Silva said.
“When you think, ‘Oh I need to win, I need to prove something to the people’, you lose everything.
“But when you think ‘I need to do this because I agree that the love I have for my sport has changed my life and helped people too’, that’s the point everything changed in my mind and heart.
“I don’t need to prove anything to anybody.
“I feel a responsibility to inspire people.
“That’s my goal now. I don’t feel pressure, I just try to make my life and the lives of people close to me better.”
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