Anderson Silva Not Worried as He Readies for UFC 112: Invincible

In a sport filled with so much bravado, Anderson "The Spider" Silva's calm and cool demeanor outside of the Octagon can be viewed as more of the exception than the rule.

Then again, his amazing talent and winning streak inside of it can be viewed in the same light.

The last time the MMA world saw Silva in action was back in August of last year during his one-sided beat-down of former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin. 

Silva would go on to have surgery on his elbow, leaving him sidelined ever since.

Does the layoff concern Silva at all? Of course not.

"My training camp went great, and my recovery from elbow surgery was successful. I am excited to fight again, and ready to defend my title," Silva recently stated to Bleacher Report.

The healing process in the wake of his elbow surgery led to his potential bout against Vitor Belfort being postponed on more than one occasion. A later injury to Belfort led to a whole new opponent for Silva altogether.

Did the opponent change worry Silva? Of course not.

"I was training and preparing for that fight, but I am ready to face the best, so I created a new game plan and continued training hard," said Silva.

That new game plan will finally be implemented, as Silva takes on middleweight challenger Demian Maia this Saturday at the Concert Arena of Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi as a part of UFC 112: Invincible. 

Struggling to find something that bothered Silva, I wasn't at all surprised to hear that "The Spider" had no problems getting ready to fight in the desert heat. The UFC's open air event headlines its first trip to The United Arab Emirates.

"I have been in Abu Dhabi for a few days, and the weather is not a problem. It was a very hot summer in Rio de Janeiro during training, so we are all well acclimated."

A win over Maia will give Silva the record for most consecutive title defenses—a record he currently shares with Tito Ortiz and Matt Hughes (who takes on Renzo Gracie on the same card).

Many fans and pundits alike feel that the best chance Maia has to keep Silva from extending his unbeaten streak is to take the fight to the ground. Most people felt the same way before Silva submitted former Pride and UFC Middleweight Champion Dan Henderson in their 2008 bout.

Does Silva have a preference of where the fight takes place? You guessed it, of course not.

"I like to keep fights standing, but I feel very comfortable on the ground as well. A fight is a fight. I am going in the Octagon to defend my middleweight title. I am going to do what I trained to do, and come out with my belt," Silva declared.

So, if Silva does indeed pick up the win over Maia and become the lone record holder for title defenses, where exactly does he go from there?

"I don’t think I have cleaned out the 185-pound division. There are many tough guys and many more will come. Demian Maia is proof that there are challenges in the middleweight division. I don’t pick my opponents, that’s up to the UFC," he initially stated.

However, he went on to say: "I need to focus on defending my own belt at 185 pounds, but maybe we will see more challenges at 205 pounds. Like I said, I want to fight the best, and I would like to challenge myself against the best at 185 pounds, 205 pounds, and who knows, maybe heavyweight. I think the fans would like to see that as well."

To add another element of intrigue to the dynamic Silva, he recently announced at a press conference leading up to this weekend's event that he is even considering a drop in weight to test himself in the welterweight division. 

Stopping short of calling out champion Georges St-Pierre, Silva left fans to imagine the magnitude of two of the sport's top pound-for-pound fighters in a potential showdown.

"For now, I am thinking of my next opponent this Saturday, but I am ready to face the best."

His words outside of the cage are much like his strikes inside of it. Very calculated and leaving nothing to chance.

Silva enters his bout with Maia as a heavy favorite with good reason.

So should we really expect the phenom from Curitiba, Brazil, to do anything, but leave us slack jawed and wanting more no matter what weight class he's in?

Of course not.

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