Anderson Silva says he is returning to MMA

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Anderson Silva's Desired Return to Octagon Is Concerning but Inevitable


By Tyler Conway
(Featured Columnist) on January 9, 2014


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Anderson Silva is a fighter. It seems a rather obvious and unnecessary thing to spell out in words—yes, man who punches people in the face for a living is indeed a fighter, smart guy—but it's an important distinction that separates Silva from other athletes.
Quitting is a taboo phrase for all athletes, but it's an especially recoiling turn of phrase for a boxer or mixed martial artist. In other sports, you're conditioned to give it your all but another opportunity will come. Fighters are conditioned to know that every time they step inside the ring or octagon that this time could be their last.
It's why "No Mas" is one of the most memorable sports moments of the 20th century. Even in ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary on the bout, some folks who were around in 1980 (I was not) remained incredulous to this day. There is no quitting, no saying you've had enough. Unless you are knocked out cold or forcefully held out by an authority figure (trainer or referee), you do not quit.
Silva didn't even get to decide what came next. Facing Chris Weidman at UFC 168, Silva went for a simple-enough leg kick, only to have his leg shatter in perhaps the most gruesome injury in the sport's recent history. Thanks to a failure of his body—and a pretty good block from Weidman—Silva could not re-establish the stranglehold he once held over the sport.

It should come as no surprise that he's already thirsting for it back. Silva's broken leg, which required emergency surgery, is expected to keep him from training for at least six and possibly up to nine months, per Matt Erickson of USA Today.
Pedro Rizzo, Silva's coach, has already indicated his fighter is ready for a return.

"At the hospital, Anderson told me ‘I will be back, master. I will be back,’" Rizzo said, per Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com. "I told him ‘yeah, you’ll be back home to recover and rest'. And he said 'I will be back, master.’ He's a fighter. He has six months to recover, heal and then decide what he’s going to do next."
Before reacting to that quote, let's make one thing clear: No one outside of Anderson Silva's immediate family has the right to tell him what to do with his life. He's a grown man. Imploring someone whose financial situation to which we are not privy is one of the dumbest things we do in sports. If the checks keep coming and the money is good, keep on rockin' in the name of cash.
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Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Spor

That said, it's hard to not look at Silva's situation and see the "no quit" fighter's mentality driving him arguably past the point where he should be in the ring. It's perhaps the oldest story in all of professional sport: Past-his-prime fighter hangs on for a few extra checks, takes a few too many blows to the head and winds up regretting it later.
This phenomenon typically gets attributed to boxers, with the lack of a centralized governing body leading to fights being sanctioned that shouldn't. Because it is so relatively young, especially as a mainstream sport, it is difficult to discern the long-term ramifications of mixed martial arts. UFC president Dana White has done a nice job thus far of massaging players into retirement or even putting it in no uncertain terms that they could not return.
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Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Spor

As for Silva, White seemed ready to write him off after UFC 168.
"Anderson Silva has been amazing," White said, per Matt Erickson of USA Today. "He's one of the greatest of all time, if not the best ever. It's a (expletive) way to see him go out, but it's part of the game."
Even if White refused to lay it out in black-and-white, all logical signs pointed toward Silva being at the end. At age 38, he's accomplished arguably more than anyone in MMA history. His nearly seven-year reign as the middleweight champion is a UFC record, and his combination of speed, athleticism and power is unmatched on a pound-for-pound level.
In two fights against Weidman, Silva has been knocked out cold and completely shattered his leg. He may still be a damn good fighter—he certainly looked it in the first round against Weidman. But bodies don't heal at 38 the way they did at 28, so it's nearly impossible to see him coming back and even approaching his former greatness.

"I hope he doesn't [come back] because why?" UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis said, per Yahoo! Sports' Marcus Vanderberg. "His legacy is already fulfilled. What’s he going to come back and win the belt? He’s done what he’s going to do in the sport."
There is really only one thing Silva has left to prove: that he can beat Weidman. Only Silva is no longer in a position of power that demands an instant rematch. Assuming Weidman retains the UFC Middleweight Championship through Silva's recovery, the Brazilian will need to get through at least one bout to return to top contender status.
Should Anderson Silva return to UFC?

<form action="/polls/create" method="post" id="poll-vote-form"> <label> <input name="vote" value="choice0" type="radio"> Yes </label> <label> <input name="vote" value="choice1" type="radio"> No </label> Submit Vote vote to see results </form>


The situation requires so many variables—Weidman retaining the belt, a lack of complications and victory for Silva, etc.—it almost seems like a lost cause. It's understandable to want to go out on top, but no smart human being would dock Silva's legacy if he hung it up now.
And yet...Anderson Silva is a fighter. He's dedicated his entire adult life, starting in 1997, to this sport. Silva has watched as MMA has evolved from a bunch of pot-bellied dudes pounding Coors Lights ruled the world to true athletes, Silva acolytes, who have helped spearhead a charge so strong that it's threatening boxing. Silva once fought when they were offering dimes; why not fight when they're offering millions?
It's a fair question. And I'm certainly not faulting him for strutting right to the bank and toward a final ending that he, not an injury, gets to write.
But given what we know now and what we'll know years from now, is it not at least somewhat fair to wonder whether any of this is a good idea?
 
<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/14140356" width="500" height="331" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/14140356">Anderson 'The Spider' Silva</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3986390">Fight Music</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
 
Yeah he needs to sit his ass down somewhere at this point... Dude was in the process of giving him that work before he fucked his leg up!
:smh:

though youre making an immaterial argument, he does need to quit.

two freak accident fights in a row is a message from the universe.
 
It's far too premature for this to even be a real discussion. It will be at least two years before Silva can fully heal, rehab, train, train for a specific fighter and set foot in the cage for a qualifying fight. Any number of things can change between then and now that might cause him to just stay retired. That being said, Silva is NOT at all on some typical past their prime champ holding in for too long shit. Had he not clowned around their first fight, he would likely have won and the second don't ended with a freak accident. Until those losses Silva was still ranked P4P #1 in the world among active fighters. Reports of this man's demise are greatly exaggerated.
 
though youre making an immaterial argument, he does need to quit.

two freak accident fights in a row is a message from the universe.

My apologies Sir, not sure of the opinion posting etiquette. Please point out for my the immature section of my post as well as how I can avoid making this same mistake a second time :confused:
 
It's far too premature for this to even be a real discussion. It will be at least two years before Silva can fully heal, rehab, train, train for a specific fighter and set foot in the cage for a qualifying fight. Any number of things can change between then and now that might cause him to just stay retired. That being said, Silva is NOT at all on some typical past their prime champ holding in for too long shit. Had he not clowned around their first fight, he would likely have won and the second don't ended with a freak accident. Until those losses Silva was still ranked P4P #1 in the world among active fighters. Reports of this man's demise are greatly exaggerated.

I hope you're right that within that 2 years he stays retired.

He'll be 40.

I can't imagine he would be too confident about that leg.

It's got all the makings of a not so good situation.

He'd STILL have to face Weidman again, this time with all that time off.

I dunno man. Just don't know


The alternative is to retire, show up and be a muthafuckin KANG at every UFC event. Be an ambassador, get all the respect and love in the world for ambiguous losses.

But I know I know, he's a fighter.
 
Dana White said he has got plenty of money.

He no longer has nothing to prove at 38.

And he does not officially have to lose to Chris.

Silva just bow out gracefully.


But I forget his hero is Ali. :smh:
 
They put an iron rod in the leg... The only reason why I can
see him returning is if he wants to come and give Chris
Weidman a beating. Or if his finances are shaky
 
My apologies Sir, not sure of the opinion posting etiquette. Please point out for my the immature section of my post as well as how I can avoid making this same mistake a second time :confused:

immature and immaterial are two different words.

What is the second freak accident?

speaking from the position that the first loss was from a "lucky punch", and the second loss was his leg breaking and looking like silly putty.
 
It's far too premature for this to even be a real discussion. It will be at least two years before Silva can fully heal, rehab, train, train for a specific fighter and set foot in the cage for a qualifying fight. Any number of things can change between then and now that might cause him to just stay retired. That being said, Silva is NOT at all on some typical past their prime champ holding in for too long shit. Had he not clowned around their first fight, he would likely have won and the second don't ended with a freak accident. Until those losses Silva was still ranked P4P #1 in the world among active fighters. Reports of this man's demise are greatly exaggerated.
Yeah niggaz is reaching like hes fucking Roy Jones or Mike Tyson out there getting his ass beat.
Nothing in tha last 2 fights showed me he was washed up.
Not being serious in tha 1st fight and a perfectly checked leg kick tha second fight doesn't warrent retirement.
Now if hes unable to go hard in tha octagon because of a mental block that results from breaking his leg then he might need to rethink things.
But if he can go in there and gradually get back to throwing leg kicks with ease I see no reason for him to retire.
 
immature and immaterial are two different words.



speaking from the position that the first loss was from a "lucky punch", and the second loss was his leg breaking and looking like silly putty.

:hmm: So if it was in the reverse and cac's were saying that about silva... maybe landing a "lucky punch" we'd say sore salty cracker right ? come on.. he lost that fight
 
:hmm: So if it was in the reverse and cac's were saying that about silva... maybe landing a "lucky punch" we'd say sore salty cracker right ? come on.. he lost that fight
I wouldn't call it a lucky punch.Silva lost that fight by his own doing by not being serious.
Its not like Weidman overwhelmed him.
 
:hmm: So if it was in the reverse and cac's were saying that about silva... maybe landing a "lucky punch" we'd say sore salty cracker right ? come on.. he lost that fight

Agreed! He clowned, and it finally got caught! I remember hearing Floyd say he takes every man who stands in front of him seriously because he's still a man...

Logic applies here as well... :hmm:
 
I'm so conflicted... I would love to see him come back and kick some ass or punch some ass depending on his mental state. But I don't want him to tarnish his legacy fighting like an old guy that's way past his prime. eg Roy Jones Jr
 
:hmm: So if it was in the reverse and cac's were saying that about silva... maybe landing a "lucky punch" we'd say sore salty cracker right ? come on.. he lost that fight

i'm not arguing it either way.

i'm saying if he feels both were freak accidents, its a message from God to sit down somewhere.
 
i'm not arguing it either way.

i'm saying if he feels both were freak accidents, its a message from God to sit down somewhere.



If he calls the lost a freak accident then he is a dumb-ass. He got cocky and ran around the ring with his hands down. Dude caught him, that ain't no freak accident.
 
Maybe he just means back to fighting for maybe a last fight. Time has come and gone for him to be on a championship level though. He had the best run ever, let the younger guys have it...but maybe they are all destined to go out on their shield. I guess he wants to get put to sleep a few times like Randy, Chuck, Matt Hughes..etc.
 
All I know is the next year or two for the 170 and 185lb divisions will be interesting. Especially with how dominant both Silva and GSP were for years. We're talking about 2 of the GOAT fighters runnings things for years on end ... and one departing in mid-November, followed by another in late-December.
 
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