‘I’ll Never Let Him Fight Here Again. I Want Him To Retire’

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

“Unless you’re trying to save your life or defend your f**king family, no 46 year old should be fighting, period.”

Was Saturday night at UFC Vegas 12 really the last time we’re going to see Anderson Silva in the cage? The former GOAT contender has been flip flopping all fight week regarding his plans after fighting Uriah Hall, and getting TKO’d by Hall in the 4th round didn’t seem to change his back and forth answers regarding retirement.

“Sometimes it’s very difficult for us to stop,” a somber Anderson Silva said slowly after the fight. “But today is the final day. And I’m so happy to be here and doing my last show for my fans in here, in UFC, for UFC family.”

“So that’s it, you are confirming that was the last time you’ll compete in a mixed martial arts fight?” interviewer Michael Bisping asked.

“I don’t know,” Silva replied. “First I go back home. And I go through with my team everything. Let’s go see, you know? Because it’s tough to say it’s my last or not because this is I do my entire life and do with my heart. So let’s go see.”

As far as UFC president Dana White is concerned, though, that was it: Silva will never fight in the UFC again. In fact, he considers it a mistake that he even let Silva fight Hall on Saturday.

“We had a deal: when he signed this contract we had a deal that this’d be his last fight,” White said at the post-fight press conference. “And you know, this guy … let’s put it this way. This week he came out in an interview – and I don’t know, cuz I don’t trust half these f**king guys in the media and how they set up questions and what they say and everything else. All I can tell you is what I read and I know what I usually read is f**king bullshit. So let me start here: that it used to be like a family when Lorenzo is here and all that kind of stuff.”

“We all miss Lorenzo, and I will always admit that Lorenzo was the gentler, kinder side of the UFC,” White continued. “But I’ve done nothing but be good to Anderson Silva. And tonight I don’t feel good about myself that I let Anderson Silva fight that last fight. We’ve treated Anderson Silva with nothing but respect, and if you guys knew what Anderson Silva gets paid to fight, you’d s**t your f**king pants. So I think that we’ve treated him like family. I shouldn’t have let him fight this fight tonight.”

“He fought a guy that has absolutely zero output,” White said, dissing Hall. “They’re in a five round main event on ESPN and they threw 11 punches in the f**king second round. You fight any of these other savages, he’ll be in big trouble. He’ll take a s**tload of punishment. Uriah Hall threw 11 punches in the second round. Uriah Hall is one of the most gunshy fighters in the UFC. And look at Anderson, when the fight was over he couldn’t even stand up to do his interview. He had to sit down to do his interview, and I made a big mistake.”

“I shouldn’t have let him fight this fight tonight. But out of respect to him … he’s a legend of the sport and a legend of this company, I did something that I disagreed with. And I knew I was right and tonight proved I was right, and Anderson Silva should never fight again.”

White repeatedly stated that Silva had one fight left on his contract, and that he’d never let Silva fight in the UFC again. It almost sounds like the UFC plans on simply holding onto Anderson as long as contractually possible, but White implied he wouldn’t force “The Spider” from competition entirely.

“I’m not trying to prevent him from doing anything,” White said. “He’s a grown man and he can do what he wants. He’s got one fight left with us, I’ll never let him fight here again. I want him to retire. And I’m hoping when he goes home his family tells him the same thing. I’m in a really hard position because this is a guy I care about, it’s a guy who’s been with the company a long time. He’s a legend of this company and I don’t want to just sit up here and s**t on him. But he’s 46 years old.”

“Unless you’re trying to save your life or defend your f**king family, no 46 year old should be fighting, period.”