It doesn’t appear Anderson Silva has any designs on a combat sports exit in the near future regardless of result in Saturday’s boxing match with Tito Ortiz.
Silva, a former longtime UFC middleweight champion and future UFC Hall of Famer, is currently 46 years old, with his next birthday coming up on April 14.
“The Spider” spent more than 13 years with the UFC, and it seemed toward the end he was tiring of his place with the organization, as well as UFC president Dana White’s attempts to push him into retirement.
Since parting ways with the promotion, though, Silva’s passion for combat sports has been renewed with a switch to the boxing world. He upset Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. earlier this year, and now he’s set to box fellow ex-UFC champ Ortiz in this weekend’s Triller Fight Club co-main event in Hollywood, Fla.
Don’t count on it to be Silva’s swan song, though, because he told TMZ going into fight week that he still has multiple more fights left in him. How many, exactly, the Brazilian doesn’t know. But Silva said the only hard guideline he’s set for himself is to retire by 50.
“My goal is my last fight is 49 (years old), Silva said. “49, I’m done. Probably, I’m done. That is my goal. Fight three more years and done. 49. That’s the number. Maybe I can fight more, but right now my goal is when I turn 49, I stop fighting.”
Silva is one of the most decorated athletes in mixed martial arts history. He recently stated the remainder of his time fighting will be in boxing, and a switch back to MMA is unlikely.
The boxing bout between Silva and Ortiz will be contested at 195 pounds.
