UFC legend Anderson Silva confirmed that his upcoming middleweight fight on Halloween against Uriah Hall will be his last.
Silva is the oldest fighter on the UFC roster at 45 years of age and he has really struggled in the latter stages of his legendary career, losing two straight bouts to Jared Cannonier, Israel Adesanya, and four of his last five overall. UFC president Dana White recently said that Silva would call it quits after the Hall fight on Halloween, but until now we haven’t had confirmation from “The Spider” himself about his retirement plans.
Speaking to MMAjunkie.com, Silva confirmed the Hall fight will mark his final walk to the Octagon.
“This is the last fight. For sure, this is the last fight. Probably. I love the sport. I’ve prepared my mind for this. I’ve prepared for fight my entire life, but yes, this is my last fight in UFC,” Silva said.
The long-time UFC middleweight champion has struggled ever since losing his belt to Chris Weidman at UFC 162 in 2013 in a shocking upset loss. Since then, Silva has gone 1-6, 1 NC over his last eight fights, with his lone win coming against by decision to Derek Brunson in 2017. He’ll be looking to go out on a win when he takes on Hall. The oddsmakers currently have Silva pegged as an underdog for his final UFC walk.
Asked what the biggest thing he will miss in MMA is, Silva said it’s the training, preparing both his mind and body to step into the Octagon.
“I think (I’ll miss) the training (the most). Preparing my mind, preparing my body. This I think is most important and I feel sad because I don’t have this anymore. This is the last one,” Silva said.
