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Marc RaimondiESPN
Not only is Anderson Silva apparently not nearing retirement, he is working on signing a contract extension.
Silva’s manager, Jorge Guimaraes, told ESPN Brazil’s Igor Resende during an exclusive interview this week in Rio de Janeiro that Silva and the UFC are already discussing a contract renewal. Silva, the former longtime UFC middleweight champion, has three fights remaining on his current contract, including his UFC 237 bout with Jared Cannonier on Saturday.
“Absolutely not [close to retirement],” Guimaraes told Resende. “He’s still got plenty of firewood to burn. He has a very high IQ and knows how to train well. Age is just a number. He never did [recreational] drugs and never drank. He’s perfectly healthy. I think he’s in his best shape ever.”
Silva, 44, faces Cannonier in Rio on Saturday, just 94 days after his unanimous decision loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 234 on Feb. 10 in Melbourne, Australia. That is the quickest turnaround of Silva’s UFC career. Prior to that, “The Spider” went almost exactly two years without fighting.
Silva (34-9, 1 NC) didn’t clearly answer questions from the media this week in Rio about his fighting future. But Guimaraes is confident that the Brazilian legend isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
“Oh, the deal will be absolutely renewed,” Guimaraes said. “We’ve already talked about that, and [UFC president Dana White is] interested in it. Just take a look what the boom he caused in Brazil because of that. The UFC is interested. Good things are coming.”
Silva held the UFC middleweight title from 2006 to 2013, a stretch of 10 straight title defenses, a UFC record at the time. Silva, who now lives in California, still holds the UFC record for most consecutive victories (16). He is regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time.
Times have been a little tougher recently for Silva, who only has one win — over Derek Brunson in 2017 — going back to 2012. He also tested positive for prohibited substances and was suspended twice during that span, though UFC anti-doping partner USADA found the latter violation to be the result of a contaminated dietary supplement.