Rizin is interested in bringing in one of the greatest of all time. Back in October, Anderson Silva (34-11, 1 NC), made the walk for the final time in the UFC. The former middleweight champion took on Uriah Hall.
Early on in the fight, the 45 year old looked solid. In fact, I was very impressed with the way Silva’s striking looked against the younger Hall. However, in the middle rounds, his age and declining reflexes started to show.
Near the end of the third round, Silva was caught flush with a shot that wouldn’t have touched him years ago. Hall nearly finished the fight in the third, but he did go on to finish Silva in the fourth round.
It was the seventh loss in the last nine fights for Anderson Silva. Afterwards, Dana White said that he shouldn’t have made the fight. Silva initially said he would retire afterwards, however, he changed his tune and the UFC released him at his wish.Â
All of the major MMA promotions based in the US including Bellator and PFL said they weren’t interested. One Championship also said they were not interested in bringing in the legend, however, Rizin is singing a different tune.
Silva to Rizin?
Rizin‘s head man, Nobuyuki Sakakibara, had this to say about The Spider: “I do feel that I would like to help him fulfill his wishes out of respect for what he has accomplished and what he has done for our sport.”
Sakakibara continued saying, “I would be interested to see if we can come up with something that makes sense for him to start his final chapter in Japan.” Rizin seems to be the only promotion that is willing to give the former world champion a chance.
If Silva were to come to terms with Rizin, his career would come full circle. While certainly Silva became a superstar once he was with the UFC, he really cut his MMA teeth with Pride in Japan. A return to Rizin would return him to where his fighting really started.
At this time, there’s no word on how close Silva and Rizin are to a potential deal. However, given the fact that Silva is very interested in continuing and they seem to be the one major player, I think something could come together quickly.