Dana White and Anderson Silva say Spider will retire after next UFC fight and close his legendary career
As many have said before, Anderson Silva is in the conversation to be named the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time.
The Brazilian is 45 years old now and only holds a lone victory over Derek Brunson in his last eight outings since 2013. His last bout was a TKO loss to Jared Cannonier in May, 2019.
Anderson Silva is one of the greatest to ever compete in the octagon
But The Spider (34-10, 1 NC, 17-6, 1 NC UFC) did start his UFC career with an amazing 16 wins in a row and ten successful middleweight title defences, a record at that weight.
No one has reigned atop a division for a longer period of time in UFC history and only Demetrius Johnson with 11 title defences can better Silva’s ten.
Silva’s next outing is against Uriah Hall at UFC Fight Night on Oct 31 and it’s expected to be his last.
“Maybe this is my last fight,” Silva said, speaking to ESPN. “That’s why I’m training hard every day, doing my best.
“My whole team has come to help me. Everybody is in quarantine to start training. I’m very excited, because I think this is my last performance inside the cage, for my fans. We’ll see.”
Former UFC middleweight champion Silva also had boxing matches in his career.
It’s believed that Silva has two fights left on his contract, but UFC president Dana White said on Tuesday this will be Silva’s final fight inside the octagon.
“Yes, it will be his last fight,” White said. “Yeah, it’s his last fight.”
In truth, Silva has never been the same since horrifically breaking his leg against Chris Weidman in their rematch for the middleweight title.
Anderson Silva moments after his shocking leg break
The aforementioned last eight fights – which include the pair of losses to Weidman – have come since 2013 and included a victory over Nick Diaz which was later overturned to a no contest as both men tested positive for drugs.
Silva has fought at a high level taking on the likes of Daniel Cormier, Israel Adesanya and Michael Bisping – all of whom would become world champions after facing him – but now is probably the time for Silva to call it a day before his MMA career begins to lose the shine it deserves.
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