Rising UFC Star Wants ‘No Takedown’ Fight With Anderson Silva

The UFC got some good news this week when word came that longtime former middleweight champion Anderson Silva had been exonerated by USADA.

True, at 43 years old, “The Spider” isn’t quite what he once was.

However, it was probably been more important to his legacy to have a potential second failed drug test reversed. Silva was still suspended for one year, yet the fact that he was found to have tested positive last fall due to a contaminated supplement rather than a second banned substance certainly helps his rapidly tarnishing reputation.

So Silva can return to action on November 10th, and not surprisingly, a lot of top middleweights would like the fight.

Perhaps one of the most interesting match-ups – although it would be extremely dangerous for “The Spider” – is a striker’s dream match-up with surging No. 9 Israel Adesanya, who recently bulldozed onto the rankings with a five-round domination of previous No. 8 contender Brad Tavares this month.

“The Last Stylebender” recently called out his apparent onetime idol on social media this week, saying that while Silva was the GOAT, he still wanted to face him in a fight with ‘no takedowns’:

…or you guys want this fight instead?!
Yo for real…no bullshit, if not for @spiderandersonsilva I wouldn’t have looked at fighting from a different perspective. I was under the impression you gotta look like Paula to be a fighter. The Spider been ******* up muscled up beefcakes since ages ago as an lean aerodynamic man. He is still the g.o.a.t imo…
With that being said…I want #alldashmoke. Just cuz I’m a fan don’t mean you can’t catch these hands…and feets. So yes I am down…will do it fih di culture of fighting!
#babygoat#workuntilyouridolsbecomeyourrivals#enterthematrix #iwillattack#notakedownsipromise

Silva has been out of action since a close and controversial decision win over Derek Brunson in early 2017, his first official win since a 2012 knockout of Stephan Bonnar.

Adesanya, meanwhile, has become arguably the hottest young prospect in the UFC, drawing comparisons to both “the Spider” and Jon Jones for his lean, rangy physique and fluid striking.

Considering how easy he made it look for Tavares, this may be too much for Silva at his age. What do you think? Is it a good match-up for the MMA great to return to?

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