Igor da Silva Claims He Was in 'Autopilot Mode' When He Bit Andre Lima

Igor da Silva is looking for a second chance after being cut from the Ultimate Fighting Championship for biting his opponent.

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.”