UFC News: Anderson Silva To Retire?
After being out of action for a little over a year, Anderson Silva made his return to the UFC last night and defeated Nick Diaz via unanimous decision. After he was announced as the winner, Silva dropped to the ground, then jumped up and scaled the cage to greet UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who was sitting cageside for Silva’s return. Silva didn’t give any specific reason as to why he felt the need to greet Jones after the fight, but he said some positive things about the UFC light heavyweight champ.
“[Jon] Jones is my friend. I talk to Jones all the time. He’s young. He has all the problems. All the people hear his problems. There are problems in the world. The people talk that this guy is bad. He’s not bad.”
Also at the post-fight press conference, Silva hinted that his fight with Nick Diaz could very well end up being his last. Silva, 39, is coming off of one of the most gruesome injuries in the history of sports, and while he looked good, and wasn’t in any danger at any point of the fight, he wasn’t the Anderson Silva that UFC fans were used to seeing, and Silva said that he will need the blessing of his family before he returns to the octagon.
“My son Kalyl said, ‘Dad, congratulations but done, back home please. No more fights.’ So this is my son — I love fights but I need to talk to my family because this is more important to me right now.”
UFC president Dana White weighed in on the possibility of Anderson Silva retiring, and said that he doesn’t believe Silva will walk away from the sport just yet because Silva is too much of a competitor.
“Every time Anderson talks publicly whether it is to the press or whatever, you always walk away going ‘what just happened? Did he just retire?’ He said he is not going to do this and he is not going to do that. Anderson Silva is a competitor. I think he wanted to come into tonight, get over the — I mean, you guys know better than anybody knows — when you are coming off an injury you always feel a little, you know. This guy broke his shin in half. That is a serious injury to come back from. This isn’t basketball, this isn’t baseball, this is combat sports where you go in and have full contact with another human being. And you know, Anderson made it five rounds tonight.”
White also said before UFC 183 that if Silva won, he would get a shot at the UFC middleweight champion, whether it’s Chris Weidman or Vitor Belfort. As of right now, it doesn’t look like Silva is interested in the title, and if he does fight one more time, it could be against fellow pound-for-pound great Georges St. Pierre.
[Image via Getty Images]
