After Cryptic Message on Instagram, Anderson Silva Claims He Is Not Retiring

Say it ain’t so! Fresh off a TKO loss at UFC 237, Anderson Silva reaffirmed that he would continue fighting after healing from his injury.

On his Instagram page on Wednesday night, Silva posted a statement discussing whether he would stop or continue in the sport of MMA. He expounded about what he wanted to do going forward, and questioned whether he should keep training and giving his life to the sport.

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PARAR OU CONTINUAR?!?!? Fala meu povo… Fico freqüentemente me perguntando, o que cada um de nós está fazendo neste planeta? Se a vida for somente viver por viver o máximo possível as horas e minutos esse definitivamente não é meu lema. Tenho a plena convicção de que existe um sentido maior em tudo o que vivemos e fazemos aqui, a vinda neste plano terrestre tem um sentido maior do que simplesmente viver por viver, acredito que é uma busca constante de evolução. Nesses 4 dias após mais uma missão que não foi bem sucedida estou me questionando se ainda devo ou não continuar treinando, me dedicando, superando lesões dores e etc… Me pergunto sempre, “será que o amor que sinto pelo meu esporte não está consumindo minha mente e meu corpo ao ponto de não poder mais continuar ???” Enfim… tudo que sempre fiz foi ser um bom soldado no meu campo de batalha, o mais bem treinado, o mais disciplinado e pronto pra morrer por minha missão, pois meu amor ao meu trabalho sempre falou e fala mais alto. Eu tenho a plena certeza que posso fazer tudo isto mais 1000 mil vezes, mas nos últimos 4 dias com dor, com a incerteza que não são novidades na minha rotina estão me consumindo mais do que antes, na verdade meu coração e minha mente de Guerreiro me confundem ao ponto de criar duvidas. Por um outro lado percebo que não sou e nem tenho que ser perfeito, o quanto está busca durante anos me trouxe coisas boas e ruins também. Porque resolvi falar sobre o que estou sentindo aqui pra vocês meu povo, porque acredito que muitos de vocês que me seguem tem um carinho e uma admiração pelo meu trabalho e por outro lado estou sempre tentando colocar mensagens positivas de motivação para todos vocês… Galera o que devemos realmente fazer é aproveitar todas as oportunidades que a vida nos dá para nos aprimorarmos como pessoas. Por tanto lembre-se sempre que os seus fracassos são sempre os melhores professores e é nos momentos difíceis que as pessoas precisam encontrar uma razão para continuar em frente. As nossas ações, especialmente quando temos de nos superar, fazem de nós pessoas melhores. A nossa capacidade de resistir e de continuar o caminho é que nos torna pessoas especiais.

A post shared by Anderson “The Spider” Silva (@spiderandersonsilva) on May 15, 2019 at 4:24pm PDT

His translated statement says the following:

“STOP OR CONTINUE?!?!?
Speak my people … I often wonder, what are each of us doing on this planet? If life is only to live by living the maximum possible hours and minutes this is definitely not my motto. I have the full conviction that there is a greater sense in everything we live and do here, coming to this terrestrial plane has a greater meaning than simply living for living, I believe it is a constant search for evolution. In these 4 days after another mission that was not successful I am questioning myself whether or not I should continue training, dedicating myself, overcoming injuries, pains and etc … I always wonder, “Is it that the love I feel for my sport is not consuming my mind and body to the point that I cannot continue?” Anyway … all I ever did was to be a good soldier on my battlefield, the best trained, the most disciplined and ready to die for my mission, because my love for my work has always spoken and speaks louder. I have the complete certainty that I can do all this 1000 thousand times but in the last 4 days with pain, with the uncertainty that are not new in my routine are consuming me more than before, in fact my heart and my mind of Warrior confuse me to the point of creating doubts. On the other hand I realize that I am not and do not have to be perfect, how much you have been searching for for years has brought me good and bad things as well.

“Because I have decided to talk about what I am feeling here for you, my people, because I believe that many of you who follow me have a love and admiration for my work and on the other hand I am always trying to put positive messages of motivation for all of you … What we really ought to do is take advantage of all the opportunities that life gives us to improve ourselves as people.
So always remember that your failures are always the best teachers and it is in difficult times that people need to find a reason to move on.
Our actions, especially when we have to overcome ourselves, make us better people. Our ability to resist and to continue on the path is what makes us special people.”

The following day, via TMZ he responded to concerns that he would be leaving the sport behind.

In the video, Silva said, “Hey guys, I’m not…I’m not stopping, I’m not [retiring], I just take my time now because…I have my movie in China, I go to China [to] promote my movie.” Silva will be playing an assassin in an upcoming Chinese action film titled “The Invincible Dragon,” which came out last month in China and is set to release in Hong Kong on Thursday.

When asked about his condition, he explained, “It’s not good but it’s not too bad, the good thing is [to] start physical therapy…I think I [become] better.” He also replied that he plans to focus on his recovery, and to stay healthy and strong to come back again.

Finally, he was asked about facing a future opponent, including a rematch with Jared Cannonier, and replied, “Oh yeah, maybe, you know, I talked to [UFC President Dana White] about that, but Dana just talked to me and say ‘go back home, rest, be careful for your knee and let’s go see,’ but that is the one chance, I have a big chance [to happen], you know.”