Don’t expect Olympic gold medalist Rafaela Silva to follow in the footsteps of fellow judokas Ronda Rousey and Kayla Harrison into MMA.
Two-time world champion in judo (2013 and 2022) and one-time Olympic champion (2016), Silva has been flirting with mixed martial arts during her lifetime. Two-year suspension Fenoterol, a substance used to treat asthma. Silva claimed innocence but had to step away from judo for two years between 2019 and 2021. In MMA, she found a way to stay active.
“MMA is not for me,” Silva said, laughing on MMA Fighting’s Portuguese-language podcast. Free exchange. “I can’t. It’s not working for me. I got kicked in the face and kicked in the leg and couldn’t put my feet on the ground for three or four days. It’s very hard.”
Silva is close friends with former UFC champion Jose Aldo and Nova União fighters Leonardo Santos, Matheus Nicolau and Luana Pinheiro. She said being in the gym working out with MMA athletes made her admire the fighters even more.
“It was a very unique experience for me because it’s a completely different fight,” said Silva. “I have a very different judo background than MMA, so I messed with my head a lot. I had to adapt to a lot of things. It was a very difficult but amazing experience for me, because it came at a moment when I couldn’t train judo, so I gave myself the luxury and privilege of training the sport.” other.”
The biggest lesson Silva learned during that time period was that, even as an Olympic champion, she still had a lot to learn about combat sports.
“I think it helped me a lot because I was always looking for help and advice [and it helped] Silva said, who She won her second world title in her first tournament after the ban. “I’ve trained in several locations and will always try to learn something here, something in wrestling, in the wrestling area. I’ve always struggled on the ground.
“At the same time, I was trying MMA, bringing everything I could to judo. Even after many years of judo training, this period of MMA training helped me a lot, and made my spirit stronger as an athlete.”
Silva has long admired the likes of Anderson Silva and Aldo, and watched UFC stars compete live when the sport became a sensation in Brazil in the early 2010s. But she became a huge fan after watching and experiencing what they go through at camp.
The roster of MMA stars includes judo phenoms Ronda Rousey and Kayla Harrison, who transitioned into MMA to become stars and win titles in the UFC and PFL, respectively.
“I really admired them on the outside, knowing what they went through to make that transition — even Kayla, two-time Olympic champion and world champion, making that transition in the best way possible,” Silva said, “You just can’t not admire athletes like her.”