Anderson Silva ‘in talks’ with Japanese promotion for final MMA fight
Anderson Silva | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva could return to Japan for his final MMA fight.
"The Spider" said in an interview with MMA Fighting on Friday, while promoting the film Murder City ahead of tonight's American Black Film Festival (ABFF) in Miami, that he's currently involved in two separate movie projects. Silva, who plays "Angus" in the movie, and will return his focus to combat sports once his projects are concluded.
"I'm now focused on these two projects and pretty soon we'll have something nice regarding fighting," Silva said. "We're in talks with Japan for a possible last MMA fight in Japan. It makes all the sense. I started my career internationally there, so we probably want to it end there, too. Let's see if that happens."
"The Spider" started fighting in 1997 with two MMA wins in one night in Brazil, building a record of 4-1 before flying to Japan for the first time in 2001 and stopping Hayato Sakurai to capture the Shooto middleweight title later that year. Silva went on to compete in PRIDE, scoring notable knockouts over Carlos Newton and Alex Stiebling, before eventually claiming the Cage Rage belt and making it to the UFC where he became a superstar.
"We're waiting for these movie works to end, the projects I'm doing," Silva said, "so we go to Japan and sit down to talk with the people interested in taking this fight to Japan and end my MMA career there."
Silva has fought four times since parting ways with the UFC in 2020, all in boxing, with wins over Julio César Chávez Jr. and Tito Ortiz, a no-decision in an exhibition opposite Bruno Machado, and a decision defeat to Jake Paul.
Asked if he's negotiation with RIZIN Fighting Federation, Japan's biggest MMA promotion at the moment that is run by former PRIDE head Nobuyuki Sakakibara, Silva said "I can't say which one because there are many offers happening at the same time."
Anderson Silva in talks with Japanese promotion for final MMA fight originally appeared on NBC Sports
