Former UFC heavyweight title challenger Antonio
Silva is retiring from mixed martial arts following a 34-fight
professional career that began in 2005.
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The Brazilian known as “Bigfoot” announced his decision in an
interview with Canal Encarada.
Silva, who turned 43 this past September, exits the sport with a
19-14-1 career mark. He lost his last seven MMA appearances dating
back to 2015 — with all but one of those defeats coming via
knockout or technical knockout. His most recent bout came this past
June, when he suffered a second-round KO defeat to Oleg Popov
at an event in Russia. That proved to be the last straw for
Silva.
“I fought the best, I beat the best and also lost to the best,”
Silva said (translation via
MMAFighting.com). “There’s a time in life when you can’t… I
fought in Russia, back-to-back fights basically, and I’m not taking
anything away from my MMA opponent, but I never saw myself losing
to this guy three or four years ago. This guy has nothing for me,
but I’m 43 now.”
The 6-foot-4 Silva was a force early in his tenure, as he competed
for organizations such as EliteXC, Sengoku and Strikeforce before
moving on to the UFC. During his peak years, “Bigfoot” earned
triumphs against the likes of Andrei
Arlovski, Fedor
Emelianenko, Travis
Browne and Andrei
Arlovski. He challenged for heavyweight gold at UFC 160, where
he was dispatched by Cain
Velasquez in just 81 seconds. The American Top Team fighter
also squared off against the likes of Roy Nelson,
Mark
Hunt, Frank Mir,
Daniel
Cormier and Fabricio
Werdum during his MMA career.
Silva dabbled in other combat sports in recent years, but knockout
losses in boxing, BKFC and kickboxing — along with his struggles in
MMA — led to concern regarding the Brazilian veteran’s health.
Silva hasn’t left the combat sports realm entirely, however, as he
is expected to meet Haim Gozali
in a grappling match under the Brave Combat Federation banner on
March 9. Silva will remain involved in MMA as a grappling coach,
but his days of active competition are in the past.
“I had a tumor years ago, had two surgeries, and every time [I
suffered] a knockout or knockdown I ran tests to see if everything
was OK because I’m a human being, a father,” he said. “I’ll leave
the sport professionally, I have wife and kids and people to take
care of, people I love and that love me.”