Anderson Silva (34-10, 1 NC) realizes that when he makes the walk on October 31st, it will probably be for the final time. The former UFC middleweight king is getting ready to close the book on fighting.
In an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Silva said, “I think that this will be my final performance inside the cage for my fans.” If it is, October 31st will be a night that the UFC world says goodbye to one of the greatest to ever do it.
Interestingly enough, Silva was trying to get fights with former UFC champions for his next fight. He was interested in Conor McGregor and Anthony Pettis. Despite mutual interest, the UFC put a halt to both of those matchups.
Silva changed the UFC
Prior to 2013, most if not all of the MMA community would have said that Anderson Silva was the greatest fighter of all time. The then UFC middleweight champion was 33-4 and had successfully defended his UFC title 11 times.
Silva’s blend of creative and precise striking made him almost impossible to deal with. The Spider did struggle with wrestlers, but he was a black belt in jiu jitsu and used it against wrestlers. He had submission wins in the UFC over grapplers like Travis Lutter, Dan Henderson, and Chael Sonnen.
Of course, we all know that history changed at UFC 162. Silva was playing with Chris Weidman inside the cage but played a little to much. He found himself staring up at the lights with Weidman becoming the UFC champion.
Following that, Silva had a devastating leg injury that he suffered in the rematch. He’s had a no contest against Nick Diaz after testing positive, one win, and four losses since the injury in December of 2013.
The former UFC middleweight king realizes it’s time to hang it up at 45 years old. Silva has been acting and he’s even developing a script which he mentioned to Okamoto. On October 31st, Silva will fight Uriah Hall (15-9) who in ways is a lot like Silva.
If you wanted to give Anderson a fight he could win and it will be exciting, Hall is the perfect choice. Both men have a lot to gain in the fight. Yes, Silva’s legacy is pretty well set, but nobody wants to walk away on a loss. While Hall is trying to get the biggest name victory of his UFC career.
The career of one of the greatest fighters of all time is coming to a close. UFC President Dana White said in the post-fight press conference of the Contender Series that the promotion was working on the “last fight” for Anderson Silva (34-10, 1 NC).
The Spider was once considered universally to be the greatest MMA fighter to have ever lived. However, his 1-6, 1 NC stretch over the last seven years has changed a lot of minds. Without a doubt, the former UFC middleweight champion is still one of the best to ever do it.
White said that the promotion was looking at another striker for his final fight. One opponent that White likes is Uriah Hall (15-9).
UFC 198 Throwback
“We’re working on a fight for him (Silva) coming up soon here…He will fight again. I met with his managers the other day. This will be his last fight…We’re talking about putting him in a very competitive fight that should be fun… Uriah Hall,” White said to the media.
Believe it or not, this would not be the first time that these two men were paired up. These two were initially supposed to fight at UFC 198 a few years back. However, a last minute injury forced Silva off the card in Brazil.
When Uriah Hall was on the Ultimate Fighter, many people remarked that he reminded them of Silva. Silva was the UFC‘s gold standard at that point in time. The way Hall was knocking people out, you couldn’t help but dream about a fight between the two men.
Of course we know that since that time, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for either man. Hall has never really lived up to his hype, while Silva has been sliding as he’s gotten older.
One More Fight
Silva turned 45 this year and really has nothing left to prove. He’s simply fighting because it’s what he loves to do. While he’s not at the top of the sport anymore, he proved at UFC 234 that he can still hang with the best.
Silva put up a very competitive performance against the current UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya. Hall was initially scheduled to fight Yoel Romero this week, but that fight fell through with Romero pulling out.
Hall has won two straight fights and a win over a big name like Anderson Silva would really get some momentum behind him. I still would love to see Hall and Romero fight, but for now, I think I could live with seeing one of the all time greats compete in a striking match with Primetime Uriah Hall.
The UFC is losing one of the more anticipated middleweight matchups it has planned over the next couple of months. First reported by BJPenn.com and confirmed by multiple sources, Yoel Romero (13-5) has been forced out of his fight with Uriah Hall (15-9).
The fight was expected to be the co-main event of the evening of UFC on ESPN 15 which takes place in eleven days. As of now, there is no reason as to why Romero has had to pull out of the contest.
Obviously this is a tough blow to the main card of UFC on ESPN 15. This fight was arguably more anticipated than the main event between Frankie Edgar and Pedro Munhoz.
We will have to wait to see the reasoning behind Romero pulling out of the UFC contest. If it’s something that will force him to be out for a considerable amount of time, the promotion might look to find a replacement for Hall.
However, if the UFC is able to rebook this fight rather quickly, they might just push it back altogether. This was a massive fight for both of the men involved.
For Hall, this was truly a chance to break through after years of trying. A win over a guy like Yoel Romero would have put Hall only a win or two away from a UFC title shot. This is the closest he’s arguably been in his career.
For Romero, the Hall fight was his chance to get back on track. Romero again failed to capture UFC gold back in March when he lost to Israel Adesanya. The fight was the third straight that Romero had lost.
Again, this is a tough blow for the UFC on ESPN 15 card. It will be interesting to see what the promotion does. Who knows, maybe Khamzat Chimaev will give the UFC a call since he’s wanting to fight desperately this month.
The UFC held it’s second and third events from Fight Island this week and the fights didn’t disappoint. The promotion is already going to be in matchmaking mode after the two cards.
With that in-mind, let’s dive into four fights that the UFC should look to make following the two Fight Island fight nights from this past week.
Calvin Kattar vs Max Holloway
Calvin Kattar (22-4) came out this week on the UFC‘s Fight Island and put on a clean boxing display against Dan Ige. Kattar proved he was one of the best at 145.
With this win, Kattar appears to be just one win away from a title shot. With that, who should the UFC give him next?
Everyone who is ranked above is tentatively booked for their next fights. Only two are not and that is the champion and Max Holloway (21-6).
Holloway and Kattar would be the perfect fight for the UFC to make assuming that Holloway is staying at featherweight. The former champion just proved he’s still at the very top of the heap even in a loss to Alexander Volkanovski.
This would be Kattar’s true test to see if he’s title shot ready. If Kattar fights and beats Max Holloway, you cannot the deny the man of a title shot.
If Holloway bounces back and beats Kattar, you can start to try to angle for his third shot at the champion Volkanovski.
Deiveson Figueiredo vs Askar Askarov
Last night, we crowned a new flyweight champion in Deiveson Figueiredo (19-1) who stopped Joseph Benavidez for the second consecutive time.
When he did it back in February, he didn’t get the UFC title due to missing weight. However, there was no controversy last night as Figueiredo ran through Benavidez on his way to the title.
Another fighter who looked incredibly impressive last night was Askar Askarov (12-0-1). Admittedly, I didn’t pick Askarov to beat Alexandre Pantoja, but he proved me wrong.
With a win over Panoja, I think that the undefeated Russian should be next in line to fight Figueiredo for the UFC flyweight championship.
Russian MMA is on fire right now with two active champions in the UFC. Askarov could make a push to become the third, then at featherweight Zabit Magomedsharipov could be right behind.
I will say it’s going to take a herculean effort to wrestle the flyweight title away from Figueiredo. Figueiredo looks like he can be Brazil’s next great male UFC champion. He looks poised to potentially dominate the division for a while.
Jack Hermansson vs Romero/Hall winner
Jack Hermansson (21-5) made extremely quick work of Kelvin Gastelum last night at UFC Fight Island 2. The Joker submitted Gastelum in just 78 seconds of their fight.
Hermansson is now 5-1 in his last six fights in the UFC. There’s not really a clear path for his next fight, but I think I see a potential matchup coming after the month of August.
Yoel Romero (13-5) and Uriah Hall (15-9) are scheduled to fight next month. I think Hermansson could face the winner of that matchup.
In all likelihood, the winner of Whittaker/Till will get the next title shot, and I can’t see the UFC remaking Hermansson/Cannonier right now. Yoel Romero would be the next step up for Hermansson.
Hermansson is getting closer to a title shot. He’s going to need one or two wins coming against someone in or near the top five to make it happen. A win over Romero/Hall would get him halfway there.
The UFC’s week ahead
The UFC is going to be firing on all cylinders this week. Dana White said this week that he was hoping to get the UFC‘s schedule through October/November done by Friday. We should see some big news this week coming from the promotion.
The career of one of the greatest of all time in the UFC is coming to an end. Anderson “The Spider” Silva (34-10, 1 NC) is down to the final two fights of his career. Silva is considered to be on the short list for the greatest. In his prime, Silva’s run was incredible as he went 16-0 in the UFC with 11 successful defenses of the middleweight title. Silva lost the title to Chris Weidman, then in the rematch suffered a horrific broken leg. Silva is on a stretch currently where he’s gone (1-6 with 1 NC) in his last eight fights. Most of those fights besides the Cormier and Connonier fights were competitive while they lasted. With two fights left, who should the Spider fight in his last couple of fights?
Uriah Hall
I’m going to start with a fight that we were supposed to see a few years ago. Anderson Silva and Uriah Hall (15-9) were initially scheduled to fight at UFC 198. Silva had to pull out of the fight due to a medical issue. The fight would be a striking lovers dream. Both men have entertaining styles, and both men would want to trade. Hall came out of the Ultimate Fighter years ago being labeled as the next Anderson Silva. People thought the two were on a collision course for the UFC middleweight title. Of course, Hall’s career never took off the way we thought, and Anderson hit the tough stretch mentioned above.
At this stage, I think it would be the perfect matchup for Silva. Now, Uriah Hall is currently scheduled to fight Yoel Romero in August. If Hall gets through Romero, the fight wouldn’t make sense if you’re Hall because he will likely want someone who will get him closer to a title shot. However, if Romero wins, Hall will need an opponent, and Silva would be the perfect choice. A lot of moving parts, but this is a fight that I would love to see.
Shogun Rua
What more could you ask for if you’re a fan of Brazilian MMA. Two absolute legends in the sport going head-to-head near the end of their careers. If this fight were to come together, it’d have to be done in Brazil. I can just imagine the Brazilian crowd with Silva taking on Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (26-11-1). Both men are former UFC champions, and both men would be enshrined in any MMA Hall of Fame.
Rua, who turns 39-years-old later this year, is scheduled to conclude his trilogy with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in July. If Rua gets through that fight victorious, a fight with Silva would make perfect sense. Neither man is going to be making a run for the title at this stage of their careers. Why not pair the two up for a main event that global MMA fans would love to see? Obviously it wouldn’t be the same as it would have been years ago, but for the die-hards, this would be a fight that you’d turn in for.
Robbie Lawler
This one is coming out of left field, but just think about it. How much fun would it be for Silva to take on former UFC welterweight champion, “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (28-14, 1 NC)? The former welterweight king is entering the twilight of his career. After reining over the 170 pound division, Lawler has gone 1-4 in his last five fights. At 38-years-old, you have to wonder what’s next for Lawler. Lawler was completely dominated by Colby Covington in his last fight.
It’s hard to imagine Lawler climbing up the mountain again at this stage. However, we all know that Lawler is not done with his UFC career. Why not have him move back up to 185 pounds to fight Anderson Silva? Both men are former champions, and both men don’t have a clear next step in their careers. This would be another fun one for fight fans everywhere. Anderson does the best when a guy goes right after him, and we know that Lawler will do just that.
Chris Weidman
This would probably be the fight that Anderson Silva would want if you asked him who he’d like to fight (Outside of Conor McGregor). For years, Silva has maintained that he believes that he was better than Chris Weidman (14-5). Weidman knocked Silva out at UFC 162 after Silva was showboating. Silva was controlling the striking and having fun, but he got a little too careless. The two immediately ran the fight back, and Silva was losing this contest. In the second round, Silva looked to be getting into his rhythm before Weidman checked a leg kick that snapped Silva’s leg.
In the eyes of the MMA world, the two fights have a “What if?” about them. What if Anderson took Weidman seriously and didn’t put his hands down in the first fight? What if Silva didn’t break his leg in the second fight? No matter what Weidman says, there are always going to be questions around those two fights. Many won’t give Weidman his proper due for those fights. Obviously Silva is not the same guy anymore, but neither is Weidman who has gone 1-5 in his last six fights getting knocked out in every loss. Weidman has a fight coming up, but regardless of the outcome, why not run it back one final time? Give Weidman the chance to shut the doubters up for good or give Anderson the chance to prove that both fights were flukes.
What does the UFC do?
I really don’t know what Dana White and the UFC are going to do with these last couple of fights. All we know for sure is that they are not going to give Silva a pure wrestler outside of Weidman. They are going to give him someone who will stand and trade. Anderson Silva is one of the reasons I became a massive MMA fan, and it’s going to be bitter-sweet seeing these last couple of fights. No, he’s not the same guy he used to be, but in the hearts of fans everywhere, we will still get goosebumps hearing “Ain’t No Sunshine” by DMX play as Silva makes his walk for the couple of times.
The UFC held their match making meeting on Tuesday, and the fight news is coming fast and furious. The UFC is targeting Yoel Romero (13-5) and Uriah Hall (15-9) for an event in August per ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.
Sources tell @arielhelwani that Yoel Romero's next fight will be against Uriah Hall in August.
With no official date, the bout has been verbally agreed to, but contracts have yet to be signed 📆 pic.twitter.com/Q5f7nzX06v
There is no doubting the greatness of Yoel Romero. Yes, you might look at Romero’s record over the past three years and wonder, but Romero is at the very top of the middleweight division. Romero is just 1-4 in his last five fights, but those four losses were all razor close decision losses to the top three middleweights in the UFC. If we are being honest, I believe he won the second Robert Whittaker fight which would have made him the middleweight champion. Romero is a freak of nature. At 43-years-old, Romero doesn’t seem to age at all. Romero is coming off of a loss to current champion, Israel Adesanya. This seems to be a good reset fight for Romero. On paper, Romero is going to be a massive favorite, and this should be the kind of fight that can kick start his journey back to a title shot.
Uriah Hall’s Golden Opportunity
This is a golden opportunity for Uriah Hall. There was nobody in the history of the “Ultimate Fighter” who had more hype than Hall did coming off of his season in 2013/ Everyone, including myself, thought he would become the next big superstar in the UFC. However, since leaving the TUF house, Hall is 8-7 in his UFC career. He had a highlight reel win against Gegard Mousasi, but outside of that, he’s lost every opportunity he’s had going up against the top guys in the division. Hall has won two straight fights, but if he’s able to pull off a victory against Yoel Romero, it would make a huge statement. Hall is currently ranked tenth, but a win over Romero might get him inside the top five. He could possibly be just two wins away from a shot at the title.
