Anderson "The Spider" Silva suffered a scare in training this week after he was rushed to the hospital with back pain. Silva complained of losing feeling in his legs and he struggled to stand up.
"He felt a severe pain because of the contracture," Dr. Marcio Tannure, the medical director of the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission said. "It really hurts a lot, but it won't change anything in terms of training. The issue he had explains the pain, but won't get him sidelined or even cancel the bout."
Silva, who suffered a broken leg in his most recent fight, a loss to Chris Weidman in December 2013, is scheduled to make his return to the Octagon vs. Nick Diaz at UFC 183 on January 31. While that fight remains scheduled to go as planned, boxer Roy Jones Jr. lamented the UFC's resistance to let Silva take part in another event.
"The UFC won't allow him to fulfill his dream and get in the ring and enjoy a night of sharing the ring with the great Roy Jones. Jr.," Jones said in an interview with MMA Fight Corner.
"It's such a pity. It's such a shame because it's a night that I'm sure people from both worlds would really admire, and would love to see, and would get a lot from because of two legends in the ring at once. Although it's boxing, we could share the ring together because Anderson can box. He's a professional fighter too, and he's an entertainer just as myself."
Prior to his fight with Weidman, Silva discussed his desire to fight Jones Jr., but also spelled out why UFC president Dana White wouldn't allow it.
"I think that Dana could let me tryout in taekwondo for the 2016 Olympic Games and let me fight Roy," Silva told Roda Viva in Brazil, "but if he let me do that, he would need to let other fighters do their things, so he would lose control."
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