Anderson Silva is in the prime of his career. So why is he contemplating leaving the sport of MMA in a year?
By now, you may have heard UFC middleweight champion Anderson (The Spider) Silva's comments to a Brazilian television station that he is contemplating retirement from the sport.
"I'll retire next year, I already gave my all," Silva said. "I don't need to prove anything for anyone and within one year I'll put my gloves aside."
Silva is only 35 years old and is in the prime of his career. Arguably the best pound for pound fighter on the planet, I wonder if he has another iron in the fire to make such a bold statement. Generally speaking, most professional athletes contemplate retirement after they have saved enough money in the bank to eliminate any financial worries that will come their way as they get older.
Since joining the UFC in 2006, Silva has made a total of $927,000 (before taxes). If we take into consideration sponsorship revenue, it's safe to say that he has made millions as a prize fighter and perhaps he is looking for his final few pay days to solidify the lifestyle that matches his humble personality. He will be the first to tell you that he did not have much growing up, so everything he has earned to date can be considered gravy. But why not add to the mountain that he has built to really set the foundation for not only himself, but for the future of his kin?
With the sport of mixed martial arts still in a growing state, Silva's paydays will only increase as his future looks bright with super fights to complement his middleweight title defences. While Patrick Cote is in Silva's immediate future, the long-term outlook foreshadows his request of Chuck Liddell and Dana White's suggestion to Sportsnet of Georges St. Pierre.
One would figure that these three fights would fit into Silva's 12-month schedule of events, but between now and then, there will be a crop of middleweight fighters that will peak in the fall of 2009. One such fighter is Ronaldo (Jacare) Souza, who is competing in the Dream 6 middleweight Grand Prix tournament on Tuesday.
While many MMA fans may read that name and say "Who?", hardcore MMA fans know exactly who I am speaking about. While most people have middleweights like Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt on their radars, come 2009, Jacare will most likely be on the minds of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, if not sooner, say within the next 24 hours.
Jacare is currently 9-1, and is on pace to not only win the Dream middleweight championship but is a serious top-five contender over the next year. Many argue that he is the best grappler in MMA today, and his credentials prove it. He is the 2004 and 2005 Open Weight World Jiu-Jitsu Champion as well as the 2005 Absolute Division runner-up in the highly prestigious ADCC Submission Wrestling Championships.
His striking has shown improvements in every fight, and when he gets his opponents down to the ground, he hits them with solid punches, eventually opening them up, and finishing them with any one of his vast encyclopedia of submissions. He is a serious threat to a guy like Anderson Silva, whose only real weakness is his takedown defence.
There are many more fighters out there that Silva can fight now and in the future, but it seems like a lack of motivation is creeping in. This may prove to be detrimental for Silva as it is often accompanied by a wake-up call known as a shocking upset. Just ask Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson and Georges St. Pierre, who all tasted this pill at one time or another.
For Canadian MMA fans, this looks good for Patrick Cote. On paper, Silva is the heavy favourite in this bout with next to no one giving Cote a shot in this fight. Having been around the fight game long enough, I've seen many a fighter whose head was not in the game have a lacklustre training camp due to underestimating their opponent while being the main property in the final equation known as an "upset." This could be exactly what Cote needs to become the third Canadian to win a UFC title.
