Anderson Silva (34-10, 1 NC) realizes that when he makes the walk on October 31st, it will probably be for the final time. The former UFC middleweight king is getting ready to close the book on fighting.
In an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Silva said, “I think that this will be my final performance inside the cage for my fans.” If it is, October 31st will be a night that the UFC world says goodbye to one of the greatest to ever do it.
Interestingly enough, Silva was trying to get fights with former UFC champions for his next fight. He was interested in Conor McGregor and Anthony Pettis. Despite mutual interest, the UFC put a halt to both of those matchups.
Silva changed the UFC
Prior to 2013, most if not all of the MMA community would have said that Anderson Silva was the greatest fighter of all time. The then UFC middleweight champion was 33-4 and had successfully defended his UFC title 11 times.
Silva’s blend of creative and precise striking made him almost impossible to deal with. The Spider did struggle with wrestlers, but he was a black belt in jiu jitsu and used it against wrestlers. He had submission wins in the UFC over grapplers like Travis Lutter, Dan Henderson, and Chael Sonnen.
Of course, we all know that history changed at UFC 162. Silva was playing with Chris Weidman inside the cage but played a little to much. He found himself staring up at the lights with Weidman becoming the UFC champion.
Following that, Silva had a devastating leg injury that he suffered in the rematch. He’s had a no contest against Nick Diaz after testing positive, one win, and four losses since the injury in December of 2013.
The former UFC middleweight king realizes it’s time to hang it up at 45 years old. Silva has been acting and he’s even developing a script which he mentioned to Okamoto. On October 31st, Silva will fight Uriah Hall (15-9) who in ways is a lot like Silva.
If you wanted to give Anderson a fight he could win and it will be exciting, Hall is the perfect choice. Both men have a lot to gain in the fight. Yes, Silva’s legacy is pretty well set, but nobody wants to walk away on a loss. While Hall is trying to get the biggest name victory of his UFC career.