Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva (33-5 MMA, 16-1 UFC) recently conducted an interview with Brazilian language MMA site Combate, where he revealed that he had suffered a rib injury during preparation for the first Weidman fight:

“It is good to talk about it, because I was really hurt,” said Silva. “So far no one had touched on this subject, but this is no excuse for my performance. It was slightly below the rib that I had fractured before the first fight against Sonnen. And that’s it. I was 85% of my physical condition.”

When asked to go into further detail about the injury, “The Spider” refused:

“I can not talk about it because anything I talk can be used against me,” said Silva, adding “it is past.”

Silva also mentioned that the injury was all healed, and that he was ready to start training for his December 28 rematch with Chris Weidman at UFC 168:

“I’m fine now,” said Silva. “Wednesday I start to train for the fight.”

Do you think Silva’s rib injury at UFC 162 played a big part in his performance? Let’s hear it Penn Nation!