The unkindly friend who nearly caused Anderson Silva to crash and burn hails from Japan. And he’s an Olympic champion.
As the fighter himself told GRACIEMAG.com, it was while training with Satoshi Ishii alongside Lyoto Machida that the UFC champion bruised his ribs, subsequently hindering his performance at UFC 117.
Ishii, the over-100 kg gold medalist of the 2008 Olympics, made his MMA debut with a loss to Hidehiko Yoshida on December 31, 2009 at the Dynamite!! event. Following his unfortunate debut, he beat New Zealand local Tafa Misipati in May of this year.
The judoka is now practicing MMA with Lyoto Machida, which brings up the questions:
If Silva had his ribs injured, what state was the Japanese fighter in after this training session with Anderson and Lyoto?