Escucha el episodio 14 de Hablemos MMA con Santiago Ponzinibbio.
(Editor’s note: Hablemos MMA is MMA Junkie’s weekly Spanish-language podcast hosted by reporter Danny Segura. New episodes are released every Monday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more of your favorite podcasting platforms. You can also stream or download the latest episode here.)
En el episodio 14 de Hablemos MMA, Danny Segura entrevista a [autotag]Santiago Ponzinibbio[/autotag] acerca del estatus de su carrera, cuando podrá volver al octágono, su trabajo como comentarista en UFC Español, [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag], y mucho más.
También analizamos los resultados de UFC 256, y repasamos las ultimas noticias de la semana incluyendo el retiro de [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag], [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag], la última pelea de [autotag]Anderson Silva[/autotag], y mucho y más.
Anderson Silva has confirmed his UFC on ESPN+ 39 main event with Uriah Hall will mark his final octagon appearance.
[autotag]Anderson Silva[/autotag] has confirmed that without a doubt, his UFC on ESPN+ 39 main event with Uriah Hall on Halloween will mark his final octagon appearance.
Silva (34-10 MMA, 17-6 UFC), the former longtime UFC middleweight champion, will have a farewell fight with Hall (15-9 MMA, 8-7 UFC) in the Oct. 31 headliner, which takes place at UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.
After not fighting since a May 2019 loss to Jared Cannonier, UFC president Dana White said earlier this year that he was trying to find the best way to usher the 45-year-old Silva gracefully into retirement. White originally said he’d allow “The Spider” to fight the final two bouts on his contract, but then the situation changed into just one final contest.
Silva originally seemed somewhat resistant to the idea of exiting the sport, but he said he’s now fully accepted the situation.
“This is the last fight,” Silva told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “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 made his MMA debut in 1997 fighting on a small card in his native Brazil. He’s competed for eight different organizations over more than two decades, but the UFC has been his home for longest. His octagon debut came in in June 2006, when he delivered a memorable 49-second blowout of Chris Leben at UFC Fight Night 5.
Fighting has been a cornerstone of Silva’s identity for more than half of his life, and he admits that coming to terms with having just one walk to the octagon left hasn’t be easy.
“I think (I’ll miss) the training (the most),” Silva said. “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.”
Although the tail end of Silva’s career has been rough – with just one victory in his past eight bouts, including a no-contest – there’ is no taking away the special legacy he created, even with a pair of failed drug tests taken into consideration. Silva is guaranteed to find himself in the UFC Hall of Fame one day, and his accomplishments will sit high in the records books for years to come.
Despite remarkable feats such as setting the promotion’s consecutive wins record (16), and having the second most title defenses (10) in company history behind Demetrious Johnson (11), Silva said his most memorable career moment didn’t happen under the UFC banner.
For Silva, his unanimous decision win over Hayato Sakurai at “Shooto: To The Top 7” in August 2001 holds the most special place in his heart.
[lawrence-related id=558771,549819]
“My first title belt in Japan when I fight in Shooto, when I fight Hayato Sakurai,” Silva said. “This is my best memory ever. It’s my first title belt.”
Nearly 20 years after that encounter with Sakurai, Silva is on the cusp of his last dance in the UFC. He said Hall is a “very interesting” opponent for him, especially after a matchup between the two fell apart at UFC 198 in May 2016.
The ideal scenario for Silva would be to deliver one final spectacular performance that lives up to the image he’s built for himself in the UFC. He said he’s trying to keep focused on the fight, and not all the outside elements in terms of everything he experiences leading up to and on fight night being the last.
Silva said he’s a fan of the matchup with Hall, however, and thinks it’s caters well to him riding out into the sunset on a high.
“I can’t say, ‘Oh, this fight goes to the ground, this fight is done in the standup,'” Silva said. “It’s two good strikers. Uriah’s a very, very athletic guy and has a good technique in the striking and I try to do my best. I try do to the best show for my fans.”
Former UFC site coordinator Burt Watson chats to Chael Sonnen about his infamous UFC 117 title clash with Anderson Silva, as “The Gangster” tells a little-known story from that legendary fight in August 2010
Former UFC site coordinator Burt Watson chats to Chael Sonnen about his infamous UFC 117 title clash with Anderson Silva, as “The Gangster” tells a little-known story from that legendary fight in August 2010
All signs point to former UFC champ Anderson Silva making his final walk to the octagon on Halloween.
All signs point to [autotag]Anderson Silva[/autotag] making his final walk to the octagon on Halloween.
Silva (34-10 MMA, 17-6 UFC) will face [autotag]Uriah Hall[/autotag] in a the main event of UFC’s Oct. 31 fight card, which is expected to take place at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
It’ll have been 17 months since the former longtime UFC middleweight champion competed by the time he enters the octagon for what he projects could be his swan song from the sport. UFC president Dana White his expressed multiple times that “The Spider” will retire after this fight, win or lose.
Silva would not 100 percent commit, but at 45, he’s aware this could be the last one.
“Maybe this is my last fight,” Silva told ESPN. “That’s why I’m training hard everyday and do my best in my training. My whole team came to help me and everybody stayed in quarantine to start training, and I’m very excited because I think this is my last performance inside the cage for my fans, and we’ll see.”
[lawrence-related id=546164,527551]
Although Silva says a fairytale ending would be for him to recapture the 185-pound title that he once defended 10 consecutive times, he knows that won’t be the case. But in Hall (15-9 MMA, 8-7 UFC), he sees the perfect dancing partner that has him motivated to potentially cap off his storied career in special fashion.
“The good story is Anderson Silva fights again for the belt and win and done, but that’s in the script,” Silva said. “You can’t do this in real life, and I’m excited to continue working, continue doing something special and this fight helped me to create something huge inside my mind, for my fans, for legacy. Especially because I have a story with the UFC. I have a great story inside the cage, in the UFC too.”
It’s been more than a year since Anderson Silva stepped into a fight, but “The Spider” is set to return, appropriately, on Halloween.
It’s been more than a year since [autotag]Anderson Silva[/autotag] stepped into a fight, but “The Spider” is set to return, perhaps appropriately, on Halloween.
Former longtime UFC middleweight champion Silva (34-10 MMA, 17-6 UFC) will take on [autotag]Uriah Hall[/autotag] (15-9 MMA, 8-7 UFC) on the UFC’s Oct. 31 card. The bout is set to be the main event. A location and venue for the show have not yet been announced by the promotion.
MMA Junkie confirmed the booking with a person with knowledge of the matchup following an initial report by UFC broadcast partner ESPN, which cited UFC president Dana White.
[lawrence-related id=527551,527210,522461]
Silva lost back-to-back fights in 2019 after a two-year layoff that included a suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. He lost to current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya during Adesanya’s ascension to title contention, then was stopped with a first-round TKO by Jared Cannonier in May 2019.
Prior to that, Silva had a unanimous decision win over Derek Brunson in February 2011, which was his first victory since a win over Stephan Bonnar in October 2012. After the Bonnar win, he lost his title to Chris Weidman, then lost a rematch in which he suffered a gruesome leg break. Silva returned in January 2015 and beat Nick Diaz, but had the win overturned by a positive drug test. He then lost decisions to Michael Bisping and Daniel Cormier before his win over Brunson.
Hall has back-to-back wins after a rough stretch that saw him drop four of five fights – but all to top-shelf middleweights including Robert Whittaker on his run to the title, Brunson, Gegard Mousasi and Paulo Costa. In December 2018, he stopped Bevon Lewis with a third-round knockout. And in September 2019, he took a split call from Antonio Carlos Junior.
Hall was set to fight Ronaldo Souza in April, but had the fight scrapped due to COVID-19 postponements. They were rescheduled for May in Florida, but Souza tested positive for coronavirus and was pulled. Hall then booked a fight with Yoel Romero for this week, but Romero fell out with an injury. Instead, Hall gets arguably the highest-stature opponent of his career.
With the official addition, the UFC’s Oct. 31 card now includes:
Dana White says the UFC is working on Anderson Silva’s last fight – against Uriah Hall.
[autotag]Anderson Silva[/autotag]’s next fight is in the works – and it could be his final one under the UFC’s banner.
According to UFC president Dana White, the UFC is working on a fight for Silva (34-10 MMA, 17-6 UFC) that will take place sometime in 2020. Though White said he’s under the impression the fight will be Silva’s last, he wants to leave that announcement up to Silva.
“We’re working on a fight for him coming up soon here,” White said at the DWCS 29 post-fight news conference Tuesday. “He will fight again. I met with his managers the other day. This will be his last fight. This will be his last fight. I think he’s going to retire. That’s not our business. That’s up to him. That’s up to him. Let him do this the way he wants to do it.”
As for an opponent, White initially didn’t reveal a name. However, when asked a few follow-up questions, White name-dropped who the UFC is targeted as Silva’s next (and potentially last) fight.
“We’re talking about putting him in a very competitive fight that should be fun. … [autotag]Uriah Hall[/autotag],” White said.
Silva, 45, has only won one fight in eight attempts since losing his belt to Chris Weidman at UFC 162 in July 2013. In 2019, Silva competed twice against Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier. Against Cannonier, Silva suffered a leg injury on a kick. In May 2020, Silva underwent knee surgery. Upon announcing his surgery completion on Instagram, Silva indicated he had two fights left on his UFC contract and intended on fighting them out.
Hall (15-7 MMA, 8-9 UFC) was scheduled to fight Yoel Romero on Aug. 22. However, Romero recently withdrew from the bout for unknown reasons. Hall is currently riding a two-fight winning streak – the most consecutive wins he’s compiled since late 2015.
The two fighters were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 198 in May 2016. However, Silva fell ill and the fight was scrapped.
MMA Junkie’s Simon Head looks back at five memorable moments from UFC “International Fight Week” down the years.
The UFC’s annual MMA celebration, “International Fight Week,” is one of the most keenly-awaited moments of the year, as the promotion stacks the deck with multiple title fights and, sometimes, multiple cards in Las Vegas for a full week of fan-friendly events, capped off by a stacked show (or two or three).
This year’s “International Fight Week” was supposed be this week, but the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic put those plans on the shelf. The UFC instead is in Abu Dhabi for a 14-day, four-event run on Yas Island.
“International Fight Week” has certainly produced some remarkable memories down the years, so here at The Blue Corner we’ve taken a look back to pick out some of the biggest moments served up by the UFC’s annual summer jamboree.
Here, in chronological order, are five UFC “International Fight Week” moments that will live long in the memory.
* * * *
2013: Weidman starches Silva at UFC 162
[autotag]Anderson Silva[/autotag] was on top of the world heading into Las Vegas in 2013. “The Spider” arrived in Las Vegas riding a 17-fight winning streak. He’d defended the UFC middleweight title 10 times and had even found time to jump up to light heavyweight and score a trio of impressive finishes, including stoppages of “TUF 1” legends Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar.
It seemed as if Silva could do no wrong, but when he stepped into the octagon at the Mandalay Bay to take on the unbeaten New Yorker [autotag]Chris Weidman[/autotag], few could have predicted the outcome.
Silva looked loose and confident. Overconfident, as it turned out. While the champion clowned and taunted Weidman, the young challenger stayed composed as he refused to be goaded into opening up by the Brazilian. Then, just moments after Silva had waved him in and pretended to be hurt by a punch, Weidman found Silva’s chin and hit the jackpot.
A huge left hand landed perfectly on Silva’s chin and dropped the champion hard. He looked almost done at that point, but Weidman wasn’t taking any chances and pounced on “The Spider” to finish the fight with heavy ground strikes. It left the MMA world stunned as the man painted by some as an untouchable champion was finally beaten, and in emphatic fashion, too.
Weidman’s knockout victory still ranks as one of the most stunning upsets ever seen in a UFC championship fight and it elicited a classic – and true – quote from Joe Rogan, who said, “You can’t play games in the octagon.”
Silva found that out to his cost, and the Brazilian legend has never held UFC championship gold since.
UFC president Dana White had to really give it some thought before revealing the four fighters on his Mount Rushmore.
We can debate this question question forever: Who is the MMA Mountrushmore? In other words, the four greatest fighters of all time.
The answer, of course, is subjective and likely depends on how you define “greatest.” Is your criteria heavy on wins and losses? Is it about championships or records? How does longevity factor in? Do you put a lot of weight on how a fighter impacted the sport in a general sense?
When it comes to answering this loaded question, perhaps nobody is more qualified than Dana White, who’s worked with, knows personally and has watched up close the best of the best during his nearly 20 years as UFC president.
White had to really give it some thought when he was asked for his MMA Mount Rushmore on “The Schmozone Podcast.”
“If you’re talking about a Mount Rushmore where the heads are carved in stone forever, you have to go Royce Gracie. No-brainer, have to do that,” White said. “Amanda Nunes. Has to be Amanda Nunes, greatest female fighter ever.”
Those two names came out of White’s mouth quickly. But the other two?
“The other two are tough,” White said, before ultimately rounding out his MMA Mount Rushmore.
“I would have to go with a Jon Jones,” he continued. “The guy’s never been beat, and what’s more amazing about him going undefeated – which is incredibly amazing because very few people do it in the sport – is the things that he’s done to himself outside of the octagon, and he still hasn’t been beat. …
“No. 4 on the Mount Rushmore, I guess you’d have to go with Chuck Liddell. At the point in time, he was as big a star as ever. It’s almost a coin flip between Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin, and they’re both from the same show, the first season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ Chuck became a massive star, was the highest paid guy in the company at the time and all that stuff.”
So there you have it. Dana White’s MMA Mount Rushmore consists of [autotag]Royce Gracie[/autotag], [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag], [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag], and [autotag]Chuck Liddell[/autotag].
[lawrence-related id=525235,505713]
For what it’s worth, White did go on to acknowledge that [autotag]Georges St-Pierre[/autotag] and [autotag]Anderson Silva[/autotag], in addition to their in-cage accolades, did huge things for the growth of MMA in Canada and Brazil, respectively.
Some thoughts:
Anyone’s Mount Rushmore that doesn’t include GSP (the GOAT) is a crime. Sorry, but that has to be said.
The fact that neither of White’s two biggest cash cows, [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] and [autotag]Ronda Rousey[/autotag], are included is quite shocking. Thought for sure at least one of them would make it.
The fact that Gracie was a “no-brainer” and the first person he named is actually quite awesome.
