It appears that Anderson Silva has one more MMA fight in him, and it might be against one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
Since parting ways with the UFC, Silva has put together a solid run as a boxer, knocking out Tito Ortiz and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., en route to a marquee matchup with YouTube boxer Jake Paul. It has been a refreshing resurgence from a former champion that found himself losing 7 of his last 10 fights in the UFC, with the bout against Ortiz even resulting in his first knockout since his fight with Stephan Bonnar, all the way back in 2012.
Anderson Silva vs Fedor Emelianenko In Japan?
After his parting with the UFC in pursuit of boxing glory, many fans expected that this would be the end of Anderson Silva as a professional mixed martial artist. However, recent reports have revealed that this may not entirely be the case after all, with a potential farewell fight that few ever expected to see.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Bellator President Scott Coker revealed that they had reached out to Silva for a fight with former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, shortly after the Spider left the UFC, but he was instead interested in pursuing boxing. However, with the former champ recently telling Helwani that he wants one more MMA fight in Japan, to end his career where it began, Coker says he might reach back out to the Brazilian.
“We did offer (Silva) an MMA fight against Fedor. We didn’t even get serious or talk numbers or anything like that, but there was definitely an outreach on our part to see if there was any interest,” Coker said. “At that time, he was focused on his boxing and wanted to see how far he could take it. To me, I would say, look, we can do it in Japan or we could do it in New York City, at Madison Square Garden or something.”
There is no doubt that a fight between Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko would be huge, especially if it is the last fight for both men, and if it takes place in Japan, where they each have deep-rooted history. That said, Scott Coker makes it clear that the weight difference is a hurdle that would need to be overcome if they were to make the fight, so time will tell if it works out.
Would you be interested in watching Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko throw down at this point?