Paulo 'Bananada' explains why he took a sip of fan’s beer between rounds

Paulo Goncalves Silva went viral on social media last week for an unusual form of rehydration .

Silva, better known as Paulo “Bananada” in Brazil, took on fellow MMA veteran Johnny Iwasaki at FFC 40 in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 25. Seconds after the end of the opening round, “Bananada” decided to climb the fence and ask a fan for some of his beer instead of drinking some of the water his cornermen brought inside the cage.

The former Shooto Brazil and WOCS champion, who dropped his overall MMA record to 23-15 with a decision loss that night, explained why he chose to drink beer instead of water after the first round.

It turns out it wasn’t his first sip of beer that night.

Silva, who turns 35 years of age in October, made his debut in Peruvian soil in February, defeating Jose Zarauz via decision. The promotion booked an immediate rematch for September, and the Brazilian says he was “robbed” at FFC 39, losing a decision.

“Bananada” fell in love with “a princess, a beautiful Peruvian” that night and decided to move to Peru — “Estoy enamorado, hermano,” he said in Spanish. After joining Zarauz’s team, Silva was offered another fight at FFC, this time against Iwasaki.

When he arrived at the El Rosedal de Surco on Sept. 25, though, Silva says he found out that his entire coaching staff and teammates were in the red corner locker room, claiming he was left alone to warm up in the blue corner locker room before entering the cage.

And that’s why he decided to drink beer.

“I had a beer before the fight as well,” Silva told MMA Fighting. “I felt alone there. I wanted some water but couldn’t find. I had a glass of Coca Cola instead, but that made me more thirsty, so I had a sip of beer before the fight started. That quenched my thirst better than the Coca Cola [laughs].

“The cornermen there weren’t there to help me warm up entered the cage between rounds, so, as a form of protest, I didn’t want to drink that water. I went for the beer instead and that’s it. F*ck it.”

Between rounds two and three, Silva jokingly says that he had water “because the beer was over.” He doesn’t think that affected his performance in the cage more than the fact he had no help warming up in the locker room — and entered the cage with left arm and left knee injuries.

“Bananada” is upset with his team about what happened that night, but won’t make a decision right now about his future. “One think I learned with Anderson Silva, and I’m not judging anyone, but any son of a bitch can be useful,” he said.

Born in Sape, Paraiba, Silva was originally scheduled to fly back to Brazil, but says he refuses to return home “as a loser”. The former TUF Brazil hopeful plans on getting another fight in Peru in November, “and this time I’ll walk out drinking beer already to shut these motherf***ers up.”