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

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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.

Insomnia

Did the mask limit Ion Cutelaba’s ability to do something ridiculous? This is too normal for “Hulk.”

The MMA equivalent to this is being down three rounds in the hole and thinking some clinch work along the fence is a good idea.

I hope no one is tired of Mike Tyson hitting mitts clips, because I cannot help but include them every time.

I like this clip because both athletes do something cool even if only one man lands.

A Jon Jones Heavyweight title shot will be cool eventually, but Francis Ngannou has to come first.

Let me revise this caption: ten years ago, James Toney and Randy Couture made some serious cash selling wolf tickets!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Robbie Lawler will go down in MMA history as one of the most violent men to ever compete. And, to answer the question below, it has to be his Melvin Manhoef knockout!

Did you have three hours to kill? Did you miss the insanity that was Fight Circus last weekend? Boy, do I have good news for you!

Guillotine choke directly into a knee is an awesome combo!

Random Land

Some well-timed camera work produces a neat effect!

Midnight Music: I’ve never loved the popular indie rock band The War on Drugs, but I’ve always enjoyed their lead guitarist’s solo work!

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