Anderson Silva Heads from Arena to Hospital for Immediate Surgery on Broken Leg
When Chris Weidman knocked out Anderson Silva to end Silva’s seven-year middleweight title reign at UFC 162 on July 6, fans inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena were stunned. Following the rematch on Saturday, they were left with the impression of Silva snapping his leg while throwing an inside leg kick early in the second round and collapsing to the canvas in excruciating pain.
Weidman left the cage with his belt and Silva was taken out on a stretcher headed to the hospital to undergo immediate surgery.
“He literally went from here straight to surgery,” said UFC president Dana White during the UFC 168 post-fight press conference.
When the initial shock wore off, people began to realize that they might have witnessed the 38-year-old legend fighting for the last time.
“This would be a tough thing to overcome and come back from at his age,” said White. “He’s one of the greatest of all time if not the best ever. It’s a (expletive) way to see him go out, but it’s part of the game.”
White didn’t speak to Silva following the fight. He kept his distance and let the former champion get the medical attention he needed.
“He was in no shape to talk to anybody,” said White.
White didn’t speculate on Silva’s fighting future.
“He’s an incredible human being. He’s done amazing things here at the UFC. Maybe he’ll want to make a come back. Who knows? I don’t want to count him out. I don’t want to count him in. It’s just really not the important thing right now. The important thing is he gets his surgery, heals up, and then we’ll go from there.”
Like MMAWeekly.com on Facebook and Follow @MMAWeeklycom on Twitter.
