Anderson Silva was on an emphatic 16-fight winning streak prior to his championship bout against Chris Weidman.
During that solid run, the Brazilian mixed martial arts legend has defended the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight title for ten times, making him one of the greatest fighters ever to set foot in the UFC cage.
His light heavyweight bout against Stephan Bonnar, which he won via first-round technical knockout, could have been his swan song as he thought of hanging up his gloves while he was on top of the world.
Even before the promotion booked him against Weidman at UFC 162, he has told UFC officials and his managers he wanted to retire from the sport.
“I want to stop, I want a time for myself, to stay with my family. I have been doing this for years and I’m losing contact with my kids. I’m only training and training, it’s not working for me anymore,” Silva shared (via MMA Fighting).
https://twitter.com/MMAHistoryToday/status/1250095396128317440
Saturated
After the meeting with Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta, Silva claimed the UFC gave him a $170 000-worth Bentley Continental GT in what was a potential attempt to stop him from retiring.
He then agreed to fight Weidman in July 2013 and eventually lost the middleweight championship after a massive upset from ‘All-American.’
“But one day before I started my camp to fight Weidman, I already was too saturated,” he continued.
“I never talked about this, never used this term ‘if I win.’ I said to [my wife], ‘If I win, I’ll stop, I won’t fight anymore.’”
“It was a group of things, many things led to my loss to happen that way. Weidman had all the merits and won, he won well, but that’s what happened.”
Rumor: Fourth of July weekend will have #UFC fireworks Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman #UFC161 #LasVegas @MGMGrand pic.twitter.com/hI3FYG4BVK
— Nicholas Stone – MMA (@NicholasMMA) February 21, 2013
Sign
Five months later, the Brazilian legend locked horns with Weidman for the second time, with the undisputed title on the line, but things didn’t end well for him.
Silva suffered a second-round TKO while breaking his leg in the process. This brutal injury kept him in the sidelines for two years.
“I would have stopped if I had won the fight, I wouldn’t fight anymore, but I ended up breaking my leg.”
“I think that was a message from God saying to me, ‘Look, man, you’re not supposed to stop yet. It took so long for you to get here and now you want to stop?’”
“I don’t know, I think those are subliminal messages that stay in your head,” Silva ended.
Here's Anderson Silva's gruesome leg injury. (GIF): Watch with caution >> http://t.co/bJHZSCuplE pic.twitter.com/o0eVCCswFo
— Top Sports Plays (@TopSportsPlay) December 29, 2013
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Anderson Silva)