Midnight Mania! Supposedly-Retiring ‘Spider’ Still Excited By McGregor Bout

Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

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Anderson Silva is 45 years old. The Brazilian legend spent roughly a decade atop the Middl…

The 2019 ESPYs - Arrivals

Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Anderson Silva is 45 years old. The Brazilian legend spent roughly a decade atop the Middleweight division, but it’s been over seven years since he coughed up that title. Silva only has one victory since that 2013 defeat, and he’s taken some real damage while not sitting on the sidelines.

Almost everyone agrees it’s more than time for retirement.

Fortunately for “Spider” fans, UFC President Dana White recently confirmed that Silva would call it quits following his Oct. 31 main event bout opposite Uriah Hall.

Has Anderson Silva himself confirmed this? I found a quote from earlier this week from Silva which sounds far less definitive, as Silva told ESPN (transcription via TalkSport), “Maybe this is my last fight,” Silva said. “That’s why I’m training hard every day, doing my best. My whole team has come to help me. Everybody is in quarantine to start training. I’m very excited, because I think this is my last performance inside the cage, for my fans. We’ll see.”

“Maybe” and “we’ll see” don’t sound like a firmly shut door to me.

Furthermore, Silva also took the time to again compliment Conor McGregor while speaking with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.

“That’s very interesting. It’s two strikers. I think for me, it’s a good challenge. Every single martial arts technique, I train my entire life. Conor is very athletic, very technical; he’s a good striker. In my mind, everybody fight Conor and do not realize Conor is the best one in this sport. They try to do something better than Conor, but this does not happen, because Conor is so smart. Conor has the different timing for everybody inside the cage, especially for strikers.

“Of course, when you see the fight Conor with Khabib, it’s completely different, Khabib is a beast. But when you talk about strikers, this is a good fight for fans.”

I don’t know about anyone else, but this sounds more like a pitch for the McGregor match up than the words of a retiring athlete. Ultimately, we’ll just have to wait and see how Silva’s match with Hall unfolds, because even retirements set in stone often crumble in the combat sports world.

That bout still makes almost zero sense from most every point of view, but seeing as it would make money for all parties involved, it’s impossible to rule the fight out completely.

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KICKBOXING NINJAS ?? LINK IN STORY

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Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.