Dear Anderson Silva,
The world saw you fight Chris Weidman on Saturday night at UFC 168, and it ended tragically.
MMA fandom has watched you for years now, beating champions like Rich Franklin and Forrest Griffin with almost inhuman ease. You took the heroes of others and left them in broken heaps in a way that seemed impossible.
For most of us, you losing seemed unimaginable. You are better than the rest of us, and the way you showed that off was by beating up some of the toughest dudes around. When Chael Sonnen made you look human back at UFC 117, you fired back with spectacular knockouts of Yushin Okami and Vitor Belfort and made us remember why we were so enamored with you.
When Chris Weidman knocked you out, it broke through the superhuman facade a bit, but to many, you were still like the tides or the wind. Once again, we expected you to storm back with a vengeance.
As the fight approached, though, it seemed like you didn’t want to be there. The tides and the wind? They don’t choose to be a force of nature.
Your reluctance? That was the true sign that you are as human as any of us.
That is also what made your injury during the fight so sad.
A shattered leg is awful, but for it to occur in a contest that you didn’t really want? That’s heartbreaking.
So, unless you decide with every fiber of your being that you want to return to the cage, I hope you stay clear.
You have climbed the highest mountains, and have earned the right to chase whatever star you want. If, right now, you want to chase that fight with Roy Jones Jr. or make a run for a spot in the Rio Games, go for it. You’ve earned the right to chase whatever dream you want.
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