Action film star Steven Seagal accompanied UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva to the Octagon at UFC 126 on Saturday night before Silva knocked Vitor Belfort out with a highlight-reel front kick. Seagal was not just there for star power. According to Silva, he learned the kick from Seagal.
"Steven Seagal helped me perfect that kick. That was a kick we were working on before I stepped in," Silva said through a translator at the post-fight press conference. "This was a kick that I trained a lot."
Seagal is known for the movies "Above the Law" and "Out for Justice," but he's also an accomplished martial artist, holding a black belt in aikido, a Japanese martial art, that he earned in Japan. His prowess has helped Silva become Yahoo! Sports' second-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in MMA.
He trains at the elite Black House gym with Silva, UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo and several other high-level fighters, and is seen in this Brazilian video teaching Silva and other Blackhouse fighters.
This wasn't his first time at a fight with Silva, as he accompanied him to the cage before Silva's comeback victory at UFC 117. Now, Seagal can add two-time winning corner man to his resume.
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