Igor
da Silva is looking for a second chance after being cut from
the
Ultimate Fighting Championship for biting his opponent.
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Da Silva and Andre Lima
squared off during the UFC
on ESPN 53 preliminary card on March 23. The fight got off to a
promising start, but the bout was called to stop in the second
round with Lima complaining of a bite from da Silva. Referee Chris
Tognoni briefly halted the contest before calling it off, as Lima’s
right bicep showed an evident bite mark. Lima was declared the
winner via disqualification and da Silva lost his UFC contract
along with his perfect record.
While da Silva doesn’t have any explanation for his actions, he
claims to have gone into “autopilot mode” after absorbing an elbow
from Lima.
“There’s no plausible explanation [for the bite], right? I remember
exchanging strikes with him, a close fight, but I was in autopilot
mode after that elbow,” da Silva told MMAFighting.com. “I don’t remember anything
after that, the things I’ve said. I only started getting back to
myself at the hotel, after a long while, and my team showed me the
video of what I’ve done, and there’s no explanation.”
Da Silva also had to deal with severe online hatred following the
incident, including death threats to his family. Da Silva is flying
his parents to Bauru, Brazil, where he lives and trains at Chute
Boxe João Emilio. He is also considering pressing charges against
some of those who have made threats online.
“I started to get conscious again at the hotel, and I was already
cut by then,” da Silva said, “And then my social media was flooded
with hateful comments, mean messages, people angry at what happened
and also threats. I started to digest all that and feel bad too.
I’ve made a mistake and I apologize to everyone.
“I’m sad because the internet is so polluted. I’ve made a mistake
and I’m willing to pay for this mistake, recognize this mistake,
but I haven’t killed anyone, I haven’t caused any harm or committed
any crime, you know? To see people threaten me, threaten my family,
makes me really sad and apprehensive, afraid. It leaves me
heartbroken.”
Da Silva had finished all eight of his career wins prior to his UFC
debut. At 20 years old, the Brazilian seemingly had a long and
bright future ahead of him. Da Silva hopes to get a chance at
redemption and to prove that the one stray incident doesn’t define
him.
“I’m trying to process all this and go back to my normal life,” he
said. What matters the most is us being OK with ourselves and going
back to work, to go out, to have a normal life. … I’ll try to have
a second chance, try to bounce back and show that doesn’t define
me.
“I’ve always done things the right way in my life, always working
hard. I left my family as a teenager and spent two years without
seeing my parents and my brother, working toward my dream, and
managed to get to the Contender [Series] and the UFC. That was a
dream come true, and now it’s gone like this. That hurts me inside.
I could have a long future in the organization, but I’ll own my
mistakes and try to come back.
“I hope it’s not a long suspension. I want to come back [to the
UFC], I still have a lot to show. I still have a lot to evolve, so
my second chance is for redemption. I want my redemption to show
MMA fans, UFC fans. I dream with my return to the UFC so I can
build a career and fix this s—t I’ve made.”