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The talk around the water cooler is that former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion Anderson Silva will retire following his fight against Uriah Hall, set to go down this Saturday (Oct. 31, 2020) at UFC Vegas 12 inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Even UFC President Dana White has stated — as well as Silva himself – that this will, in fact, be his swan song. But during a recent interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, “Spider” seemed to leave the door open ever-so slightly for one more fight after Saturday.
“Probably this is my last fight in UFC, probably. But let’s see. This is the last fight but probably something change. Let’s go see the result,” said Silva. “I am very focused right now in this fight, and then let’s go see the future.”
Silva has two fights remaining on his contract and he’s gone on record numerous times saying that he would fulfill his obligations with the promotion before he opted to walk away. Win or lose, if it does prove to be Silva’s last rodeo inside the Octagon, it doesn’t necessarily mean he will be done fighting, as he suggested that he could very continue competing in another promotion.
“I do (have two fights left), but fight is fight and maybe something change, but this is last fight in UFC, probably. It’s tough to talk about whether this is the last or not. But in UFC, this is probably the last one. I have my contract, I signed, and I do my best. I work, do my part because I’m a professional.
“And of course, maybe I don’t fight anymore in UFC and of course I go fight outside. Why? Because the people can’t stop my job. That don’t make sense. If this is not the last fight in ufc, then okay. But if this is the last fight in UFC, of course I go fight in other event. I don’t know, but right now it is he last fight in UFC,” he concluded.
A loss to “Prime Time” could ultimately prompt Silva to definitely call it a career this weekend. A win, however, changes things drastically. Of course, if he has one fight remaining on his ironclad UFC deal once he retires, White and Co. will not allow Silva to fight somewhere else unless they grant him his full release.