Anderson Silva Clarifies Retirement Talk; “Wish” is to Keep Fighting

UFC Vegas 12 has been promoted as the final time fans will see Anderson Silva fighting in the Octagon, and as a result, the sense was the legend is retiring. But, as Silva gets set to face Uriah Hall, he’s reporting he is hoping to keep fighting after all.

Silva claims he has an agreement with Dana White

A little while ago, when the Silva – Hall fight was announced, Dana White said he believed it would be the legend’s final bout. That surprised some, as Silva had repeatedly talked about fighting out his UFC deal, which has two bouts left on it.

Silva’s strength and conditioning coach, Rogerio Camoes proceeded to say he didn’t think Silva would retire on October 30th.

But, not long ago, Silva reported that Saturday would be his final fight in the UFC. Although Silva did state it would be his last fight with the promotion, since he’ll still have one fight left on his UFC contract, many took that as him confirming his retirement.

While speaking with the media more recently, however, Silva said this (quotes via MMA Fighting).

“Everybody’s asking this, and the answer will always be the same,” Silva said. “Maybe it’s the last, maybe it’s not.

Maybe it’s the last fight in the UFC, yes, in agreement between Dana and I. We’ll see.

Maybe I’ll do the other fight I have in my contract, maybe not. Anything can happen.”

“After the fight, we’ll probably see what we’ll do, to continue fighting or not, but my wish is to continue, for sure,” he added.

“But let’s wait. Uriah is the focus now, and after that we’ll see the next steps, we’ll talk to Dana, we’ll see what’s doable and what’s not.”

And when asked about how the fight is being promoted, as his final fight, Silva said this.

“It’s the correct way to market (the card as my retirement bout), because it might be my last fight in the UFC, but we’ll see,” Silva said. “Let’s wait to see what happens.”

Reaction?

So, in a way, Silva’s clarification isn’t that shocking, given that for quite some time he talked about fighting out his UFC deal (and he wasn’t talking about retiring).

But, what is kind of surprising is that it seems like Silva believes the UFC will let him out of his contract to fight elsewhere.

Is it possible that due to Silva’s legendary status, and what he did for the UFC, they’re willing to release him early? Ya. 

But, the consensus seemed to be that Silva would finish his career in the UFC and that would happen, relatively soon. The Brazilian star turns 46 in April.