Five Reasons Why Anderson Silva Should Continue Fighting
Editorial by other...
After the fight, during the UFC 183 post-fight press conference, Silva hinted at retirement. As far as he was concerned, he did it. He came back, he won a big fight and escaped injury-free. He could finally leave the sport as the greatest of all time and walk away on his own terms.
Unfortunately for Silva, he was a bad boy leading up to the Diaz fight, as the news broke this week that he failed an out-of-competition drug test leading up to UFC 183, testing positive for two banned substances. An issue that he has spoken out against on many occasions — performance enhancing drugs — is now the final impression he is going to make on the sport if he does in fact retire as he alluded to this past weekend.
With that being said, it’s clear now that if he was emotional because he managed to end his career on a positive note and could finally leave the sport on top and on his own terms, he’s not done yet. He’s got more work to do. If he wasn’t satisfied leaving on a stretcher screaming in pain, he certainly won’t be pleased with his career ending on this note.
There are still plenty of reasons why Silva should continue with his legendary career. Below is a look at five of those reasons.
#5. Money
Money. “The Spider” has plenty of it, but you can always use more. Silva has a large family. He has a lot of children’s education to pay for. Like it or not, every fighter competing in MMA are classified as “prize fighters” for a reason. They train their hearts out, they put their shorts and fight gloves on and they lock themselves in a cage with another well-trained combatant for a prize. That prize is money.
While money is no doubt the least of the many reasons Silva should continue his career, it is certainly one of them.
#4. 2015 is the Year of the Goat
According to Chinese astrology, each year (starting from the Chinese New Year) is associated with an animal sign, occurring in a 12-year cycle. For example, 2015 is the year of the Goat. As we all know, in the world of professional sports, the term “goat” is often used as an acronym for “greatest of all time.” Few will argue that Anderson Silva is MMA’s “G.O.A.T.”
With that being said, for those who believe in superstitions, if for no other reason, “The Spider” should continue on in 2015 to see if this year truly is “the year of the goat.” Obviously this particular reason is all in good fun, but hey, you never know!
#3. The Good of the Sport
Silva has often spoke about the sport of MMA as something that is near and dear to his heart. Something he has a strong passion for and wants to help elevate to the next level.
Right now the UFC is in dire need of fighters who can headline big cards and sell pay-per-views. Sure, January was a very successful month for UFC in terms of pay-per-view business, but A. how often do you get a Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier kind of fight? and B. Silva was the other half of the equation, as his fight with Diaz is reportedly tracking well in terms of pay-per-view sales.
With Georges St-Pierre out of the picture, and other high-profile PPV draws such as Brock Lesnar, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz either retired, working for another company or past their PPV-drawing prime, Silva is one of only a handful of fighters who can do guaranteed strong numbers on pay-per-view.
He may have created a new pay-per-view draw in Chris Weidman by himself. If you take the two wins over Silva out of the picture, even if both could be considered fluke victories, I’m not so sure Weidman is as big of a star as he’s on the verge of becoming right now. While I’m not saying Silva should go out and lose to a bunch of guys to create the next generation of fighters who can draw on pay-per-view, he could greatly benefit the sport by sticking around for another fight or two while UFC creates, or at least attempts to create new draws.
#2. Super Fight With Georges St. Pierre
Some have called Silva’s victory over Nick Diaz at the UFC 183 pay-per-view event on January 31st a “dominant performance.” Personally speaking, I’m of the belief that Silva clearly won a unanimous decision over Diaz, but I wouldn’t call it a “dominant performance” by any means. I feel that Diaz was more than competitive against Silva. In fact, in scoring the fight live (I have yet to re-watch it and some times when I re-watch close fights, I change my opinion on who won some of the rounds) I gave Diaz two of the five rounds.
The point to all of that is this — if Silva was truly dominant in the fight with Diaz, if he had knocked Diaz out for example, I would say he should continue his run through the UFC Middleweight division and attempt to re-gain his UFC Middleweight Championship. Because I don’t think that’s the proper avenue for Silva to take to wrap up his legendary career, all that’s left for him if he chooses to continue fighting is to take special fights. Much like Diaz these days, I think Silva should only return to the Octagon for “big fights,” and what fight is bigger than the long-awaited “Super Fight” against Georges St-Pierre?
Sure, there are other “Super Fights” for Silva, and one in particular that would likely be even bigger than a fight with GSP, such as Silva vs. Jon Jones. If Silva isn’t in a position to make another run for the 185-pound title, he certainly has no business going after the current 205-pound champion. One could even argue that the only fight left for Silva that makes any sense is one against St-Pierre. It’s a “dream fight” that fans have been clamoring to see for years. If UFC can convince GSP to come back to the sport, a fight with Silva should finally be booked.
Much like Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis in boxing, or even the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight that is rumored to finally happen, Silva vs. GSP is past its’ prime. It won’t mean nearly as much these days with both guys arguably past their prime and both guys no longer holding titles in their respective weight classes, but the fact remains, it’s still Anderson “The Spider” Silva vs. Georges “Rush” St-Pierre.
#1. Legacy
The biggest reason Silva should continue fighting is his legacy. After a week where the news surfaced that Silva tested positive for two performance-enhancing drugs, it goes without saying that his legacy has been tarnished. If you’re Anderson Silva, you do not want that to be the last impression you make on the sport.
He made it clear himself that the reason he worked so hard to make a comeback after spending more than a year on the sidelines recovering from arguably the most gruesome injury in UFC history was because he did not want that to be the final image he leaves behind. He did not want to end his career on that note. He wanted to come back and go out on a high note. Going out on a failed drug test is obviously not going out on a high note. So, for Silva’s legacy, I think he needs to fight one more time. Hopefully it’s against St-Pierre and he either wins or loses without popping hot on a drug test after the fact.
Then again, if you go by Silva’s own declaration, a statement he made the last time he won a fight in the UFC (against Stephan Bonnar, who failed a post-fight drug test after their fight at UFC 153 in October of 2012): “When the guys test for the steroids, they should have no more fights.”
Editorial by other...
After the fight, during the UFC 183 post-fight press conference, Silva hinted at retirement. As far as he was concerned, he did it. He came back, he won a big fight and escaped injury-free. He could finally leave the sport as the greatest of all time and walk away on his own terms.
Unfortunately for Silva, he was a bad boy leading up to the Diaz fight, as the news broke this week that he failed an out-of-competition drug test leading up to UFC 183, testing positive for two banned substances. An issue that he has spoken out against on many occasions — performance enhancing drugs — is now the final impression he is going to make on the sport if he does in fact retire as he alluded to this past weekend.
With that being said, it’s clear now that if he was emotional because he managed to end his career on a positive note and could finally leave the sport on top and on his own terms, he’s not done yet. He’s got more work to do. If he wasn’t satisfied leaving on a stretcher screaming in pain, he certainly won’t be pleased with his career ending on this note.
There are still plenty of reasons why Silva should continue with his legendary career. Below is a look at five of those reasons.
#5. Money
Money. “The Spider” has plenty of it, but you can always use more. Silva has a large family. He has a lot of children’s education to pay for. Like it or not, every fighter competing in MMA are classified as “prize fighters” for a reason. They train their hearts out, they put their shorts and fight gloves on and they lock themselves in a cage with another well-trained combatant for a prize. That prize is money.
While money is no doubt the least of the many reasons Silva should continue his career, it is certainly one of them.
#4. 2015 is the Year of the Goat
According to Chinese astrology, each year (starting from the Chinese New Year) is associated with an animal sign, occurring in a 12-year cycle. For example, 2015 is the year of the Goat. As we all know, in the world of professional sports, the term “goat” is often used as an acronym for “greatest of all time.” Few will argue that Anderson Silva is MMA’s “G.O.A.T.”
With that being said, for those who believe in superstitions, if for no other reason, “The Spider” should continue on in 2015 to see if this year truly is “the year of the goat.” Obviously this particular reason is all in good fun, but hey, you never know!
#3. The Good of the Sport
Silva has often spoke about the sport of MMA as something that is near and dear to his heart. Something he has a strong passion for and wants to help elevate to the next level.
Right now the UFC is in dire need of fighters who can headline big cards and sell pay-per-views. Sure, January was a very successful month for UFC in terms of pay-per-view business, but A. how often do you get a Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier kind of fight? and B. Silva was the other half of the equation, as his fight with Diaz is reportedly tracking well in terms of pay-per-view sales.
With Georges St-Pierre out of the picture, and other high-profile PPV draws such as Brock Lesnar, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz either retired, working for another company or past their PPV-drawing prime, Silva is one of only a handful of fighters who can do guaranteed strong numbers on pay-per-view.
He may have created a new pay-per-view draw in Chris Weidman by himself. If you take the two wins over Silva out of the picture, even if both could be considered fluke victories, I’m not so sure Weidman is as big of a star as he’s on the verge of becoming right now. While I’m not saying Silva should go out and lose to a bunch of guys to create the next generation of fighters who can draw on pay-per-view, he could greatly benefit the sport by sticking around for another fight or two while UFC creates, or at least attempts to create new draws.
#2. Super Fight With Georges St. Pierre
Some have called Silva’s victory over Nick Diaz at the UFC 183 pay-per-view event on January 31st a “dominant performance.” Personally speaking, I’m of the belief that Silva clearly won a unanimous decision over Diaz, but I wouldn’t call it a “dominant performance” by any means. I feel that Diaz was more than competitive against Silva. In fact, in scoring the fight live (I have yet to re-watch it and some times when I re-watch close fights, I change my opinion on who won some of the rounds) I gave Diaz two of the five rounds.
The point to all of that is this — if Silva was truly dominant in the fight with Diaz, if he had knocked Diaz out for example, I would say he should continue his run through the UFC Middleweight division and attempt to re-gain his UFC Middleweight Championship. Because I don’t think that’s the proper avenue for Silva to take to wrap up his legendary career, all that’s left for him if he chooses to continue fighting is to take special fights. Much like Diaz these days, I think Silva should only return to the Octagon for “big fights,” and what fight is bigger than the long-awaited “Super Fight” against Georges St-Pierre?
Sure, there are other “Super Fights” for Silva, and one in particular that would likely be even bigger than a fight with GSP, such as Silva vs. Jon Jones. If Silva isn’t in a position to make another run for the 185-pound title, he certainly has no business going after the current 205-pound champion. One could even argue that the only fight left for Silva that makes any sense is one against St-Pierre. It’s a “dream fight” that fans have been clamoring to see for years. If UFC can convince GSP to come back to the sport, a fight with Silva should finally be booked.
Much like Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis in boxing, or even the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight that is rumored to finally happen, Silva vs. GSP is past its’ prime. It won’t mean nearly as much these days with both guys arguably past their prime and both guys no longer holding titles in their respective weight classes, but the fact remains, it’s still Anderson “The Spider” Silva vs. Georges “Rush” St-Pierre.
#1. Legacy
The biggest reason Silva should continue fighting is his legacy. After a week where the news surfaced that Silva tested positive for two performance-enhancing drugs, it goes without saying that his legacy has been tarnished. If you’re Anderson Silva, you do not want that to be the last impression you make on the sport.
He made it clear himself that the reason he worked so hard to make a comeback after spending more than a year on the sidelines recovering from arguably the most gruesome injury in UFC history was because he did not want that to be the final image he leaves behind. He did not want to end his career on that note. He wanted to come back and go out on a high note. Going out on a failed drug test is obviously not going out on a high note. So, for Silva’s legacy, I think he needs to fight one more time. Hopefully it’s against St-Pierre and he either wins or loses without popping hot on a drug test after the fact.
Then again, if you go by Silva’s own declaration, a statement he made the last time he won a fight in the UFC (against Stephan Bonnar, who failed a post-fight drug test after their fight at UFC 153 in October of 2012): “When the guys test for the steroids, they should have no more fights.”
