Another personality is chiming in on Anderson Silva‘s fighting future: UFC president Dana White.
Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, White flatly said “[Anderson Silva] told me he wants to still fight.” The news would be something of a surprise if numerous people close to the former middleweight champ including coach (and former UFC heavyweight contender) Pedro Rizzo and Black House manager Jorge Guimaraes hadn’t expressed similar sentiments in the last few days.
The LA Times also reached out to Ed Soares, Silva’s primary handler and translator. He, too, agreed the champ was not quite ready to hang up the gloves and “has no plans” to retire at this time.
The news, obviously, is somewhat disconcerting. Silva broke his leg in brutal fashion in December in his rematch with Chris Weidman. Weidman blocked a leg kick with his knee, causing Silva’s tibia and fibula to shatter, which left his shin completely floppy. Silva, who was a seemingly unstoppable force in MMA just months ago, was left writhing on the ground, screaming in pain over the injury.
Regardless of how much Silva wants to return to the cage, however, the road to recovery is a long one for such an injury. Corey Hill, a former competitor on The Ultimate Fighter Season 5, suffered a similar injury that put him out of commission for over a year. Because of that, the former champ and likely greatest mixed martial artist of all time is unlikely to return until deep into 2015.
Many (including myself) were hoping for Silva to retire from combat sports following the gruesome injury. With a timetable to return that stretches past his 40th birthday, the champ has little to gain but plenty to lose by returning to the cage.
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