When do you think Anderson Silva should've retired?

[Marianne]

Still has a few fights left in the tank. Should fight BJ Penn at UFC 400 and then call it a career

 

[r-harper-1]

I noticed him slipping after Bonnar ….i voted after 2nd Bonnar fight

 

[Daniel_LaRusso]

Adesanya would’ve been a good time to bow out.

Took a round off him. A respectable performance. Would’ve stiffened Grace Jones in his prime.

 

[Relentless chase]

I know we got the magic of hindsight to guide us.

But I'd say after the second fight with Weidman, where he broke his leg. I think he should have retired after that.

Reason I say that, is because he was going to get an immediate rematch title shot after losing the Weidman the first time.

So it's reasonable to go for that rematch. But after that devastating loss with his leg break, he should have ended it there. He was never the same after.

I believe he was 37 years old if he retired right after the second fight with Weidman. His record would've been 33-6.

After the Brunson win. His record was 34-8 when he beat Brunson and even had DC screaming in the commentating booth “since when did Anderson learn how to wrestle?”

I think that win would’ve been a good win for him to end on. The Diaz fight would’ve been great to end his career with, had it not of been overturned to a “no contest.”

 

[IsNormal]

He retired about the right time. Could've retired after Cannonier leg break - but then some fans would argue he still had some fight in him. So it's good he got that 1 last loss.

There were so many weird circumstances in his last fights that it was hard to say he should've retired earlier

* Weidman fights ended so freakily (but yeah, Silva did not win a single minute of those fights)
* Beat Nick Diaz (regardless of suspensions) Not a big deal but of course that kept him going
* The Bisping fight was of course a big debate. I think it was clear Anderson was slowing down, losing, and just lucked out to land that knee ( which in no way was a KO - the bell rang before Bisping hit the floor fully)
* Izzy - by now we all knew Anderson was no longer champ material but hey, since Izzy seemed to struggle - Anderson must've figured he could still hang around the top of the division
* DC - a gimmick fight that doesn't count, and Silva did way better than expected against a LHW wrestling great.
* Cannonier - Silva broke his leg so early round 1. After this fight most fans expected Silva was done so he could've retired here
* Uriah Hall - yeah now it' time to retire

 

[Levi_]

If we are hindsighting it, then after Bonnar. Reasonably, after the second Weidman fight. It was pretty clear with the damage to the leg and the second consecutive loss that his days of domination were over.

 

[Minnja]

Sonnen 2.

Obviously hindsight but he really didn’t have much else to do at MW aside from rack up more title defenses on a record he already held and if he wasn’t gonna commit to LHW.

But his popualrity sky rocketed during the Sonnen/Belfort era so I don’t blame him at all for fighting more. After the second Weidman loss would have made sense too but idk how many fighters are ok with retiring on that kind of injury and not wanting to try one more time.

 

[Rationality]

After the Adesanya fight would've been perfect. He basically passed the torch on to the next generation for once and for all there.

 

[Rationality]

Anderson is a fighter. He gave all he had out there until there was nothing left

Thats how a GOAT contender should go. Thats the fighting spirit.

Retiring when you are still good to go is a pussy move. Thats why guys like GSP or Khabib wont be in my GOAT lists, despite being skilled as hell

Guys like anderson, fedor, aldo, look at their careers. Anderson fought DC for Christ sake. He could have sat on AS for whatever minutes and he still went out there

Why should your GOAT lists be more important to them than their health and W-L records? Nothing personal, just an honest question.

 

[Hdfi]

If Silva had retired on top after the Bonnar fight, a lot more people would have him as #1 p4p goat.

 

[-Sideways-]

After he broke his leg. Age wasn't on his side at that point.

 

[OmegaRugal]

When he broke his leg at age 38 .. nearly 39

that injury alone is career threatening ... now add his age too?

It's over.

With hindsight... obviously before he fought Weidman.

 

[Clark Rogers]

I'm gonna offer a crazy take for all 3 of these threads, and that is that it ain't my business when another man decides to keep going or hang it up.

Would a different decision maybe favor "legacy" arguments? Maybe, idk, depends on how much you think end of career age related losses impact such a thing.

I think they should all go as long as they feel like they can, assuming they're healthy enough.

Tony is an outlier, because I think he's taking up legitimate brain damage post-Gaethje, and that ain't great.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

After his leg break vs The Chris 2. Anderson Silva was months away from turning 39. By that point he done it all and he was able to pass on the torch to another worthy champion

But realistically around the time he fought Chael, given his age. GSP, Khabib and Jones were all smart enough to retire young in their division

 

[Elvis.]

After beating Chael for the second time is the storybook ending, but mma generally has to take a part of you before she’s done with you , so after he returns from injury to beat Nick , that should have been it , nothing to prove to anyone except yourself, that you can conquer the injury and walk off into the sunset

 

[pankrat]

After his competitive fight with Izzy as an old man would've been cool

 

[haysus31]

One of the greatest. Always hard for these guys to hang it up. Just a few dollars more gets you health problems later down the road.

 

[theleerygoose]

He retired at the perfect time. He maxed out his skill and talent and still has his health.

Nope. Took tons more damage and ruined his legacy. If he retired after Weidman 2 he would still be considered a GOAT candidate. Now he is rarely mentioned.

 

[Nobru]

Why should your GOAT lists be more important to them than their health and W-L records? Nothing personal, just an honest question.

never. Not saying they should be out there until they die, far from it. Do you think AS or Fedor health were severely damaged caused they fought a few years after their primes? I dont.
I say let them TRT and stay longer.

 

[Oenomaus]

I agree with the people who’ve said after the Diaz fight - coming back from the leg injury at his age (controversy and all) and the way he looked in that fight, I think clearly he was far removed from his prime and going out on a win (at the time) would’ve been a good story for him. I will say though, I was always more of a GSP guy back in the day, but I respect Anderson for continuing to challenge himself and fight the way he did until the end. He always had a crazy aura on the feet, best mix of deceptive and dangerous on the feet in MMA to me. I appreciate him a lot more now