UFC legend Anderson Silva confirmed that his fight against Uriah Hall on Halloween will likely mark the end of his incredible MMA career.
At age 45, Silva is the oldest fighter currently on the UFC roster and so him retiring should be no shock to anyone. UFC president Dana White said this week that Silva’s fight against Hall would be the final fight of his career and Silva has now confirmed that. Speaking to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Silva admitted that the Hall fight will likely be the end of his career.
“Maybe this is my last fight. 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,” Silva said.
Silva was the UFC middleweight champion from 2006 when he knocked out Rich Fraklin to win the title, to 2013, when Chris Weidman knocked him out to win the belt. At one point in the UFC, he had won a record 16 straight fights and most observers of the sport consider him to be one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. However, Silva has really struggled since losing his belt, as he’s currently riding a skid of four losses in his last five fights.
Still, despite struggling to get into the win column in recent years, Silva admits that he still dreams of winning the belt again one day, although at this point Silva knows that seems very optimistic. He hopes that win or loses, he puts on a terrific fight against Hall before he hangs up his gloves for good, and gives his fans what they expect from him.
“The good story is Anderson Silva fights again for the belt and wins, and then is done — but that’s a script, you can’t do this in real life. I’m excited to continue working, doing something special. This fight will help me create something huge inside my mind for my fans, my legacy,” Silva.
If this is it for Silva, look for him to be fast-tracked to the UFC Hall of Fame as soon as he makes his retirement official considering he is truly one of the greatest to ever do it.
Do you think Anderson Silva will retire after the Uriah Hall fight or do you think he will fight again?