Father Time is knocking.
In UFC 147, Wanderlei Silva lost to Rich Franklin by unanimous decision. Despite fighting in his home country of Brazil and Franklin being a fill-in, Silva couldn’t pull off a victory in the grudge match. Yet another letdown proves that his hourglass is rapidly running out of sand.
While Franklin controlled most of the match, Silva missed a golden knockout opportunity. In the second round, he nearly ended Franklin’s night, but Ace stayed upright and kept competing.
Franklin McNeil of ESPN reported after the fight that Silva thought he had the KO in the bag. He said:
“At the end of the second round, I thought I was going to knock him out but I wasn’t able to. I pushed it a bit too much. I wanted to knock him out.”
Silva is now 3-7 in his last 10 matches. Before his slump began, he boasted 31 wins compared to just five losses. He simply hit the wall that is the age of 30.
The Axe Murderer will turn 36 years old on July 3rd. He began fighting professionally in 1996. The wear and tear from all those years of competing has reduced Silva to a nearly unrecognizable fighter from his former dominant self.
Josh Gross of ESPN gave Silva a C- grade for his performance against Franklin and wrote of his deteriorating ability:
He had one legitimate burst in the fight, which he claimed afterward was enough to wear him out. Silva always left himself open when he punched. Now he does so as a slow, predictable, weak-chinned man in his mid-30s who’s suffered too many bad knockouts.
Silva has led a legendary MMA career. But his best bet would to be to set up one last matchup that would allow him to leave the fight game on a high note.
David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.
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