2. Anderson Silva’s finally getting the retirement tour he deserves.
If there’s one fighter that deserved better than they got in the UFC at the end, it was Anderson Silva.
Following a leg break and hitting his 40’s, rather than giving Silva some fun fights or giving him a proper sendoff, the UFC decided to throw Silva to the wolves. This is nothing new from the promotion; at some point, they almost always hand over their legends to some young killers. While we did get some fun moments like the Adesanya fight, for the most part, it was just sad. Silva didn’t need to be fighting younger guys like Jared Cannonier, and after using the “Spider” brand to build up a new crop of contenders, they released Silva without much fanfare in late 2020.
The Brazilian then decided to move to boxing in 2021, pursing his longtime dream of transitioning between sports. He immediately defeated former champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Then Triller decided to match Silva and fellow MMA legend Tito Ortiz up, and it worked. They did a good job of selling the fight; in the end, Silva added to his already insane highlight reel with a KO of Ortiz on Saturday. Silva got a big crowd reaction at the venue and his knockout went viral on social media as well.
Silva deserved so much better than getting kicked out the door by the promotion that he was the face of for so long, and he’s finally getting his due. At the age of 46, in a completely different sport, Silva is getting the respect that a legend like him deserves.
