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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
For a very short time after the conclusion of UFC 162 this July, Anderson Silva was close to hanging up his gloves. The loss to Chris Weidman had removed the weight of being the long-reigning Champion, and there was a part of him prepared to walk away.
But that thought was quickly dispatched, with Silva agreeing to return for the rematch with Weidman. And heading into Saturday's second fight, Silva says he's sticking around no matter what happens.
"I'm going to answer this like Ronaldo did once - of course I'm going to go back and play and I'm very happy and of course I'm coming back," he said at the pre-fight press conference on Thursday (via FoxSports.com).
"After the last fight, after the dust settled I was sitting thinking alone and thinking maybe I should stop," he continued. "Maybe this is it. But I got on the phone with my son and my son said, 'Hey dad, do what you want to do, do what makes you happy,' and that's what I'm doing."
"I still have eight fights left on my contract and as long as I'm still enjoying it and I still want to go out there and have that desire to fight, I'm going to keep on fighting. If I'm going to retire, there's no way to say that right now. That's something that's going to come from the heart."
Penick's Analysis: Silva's had so many stops and starts when it comes to a possible retirement that until he officially walks away and has no return in sight, it should just be assumed he'll keep going. Of course, he hasn't had a non-title fight since 2006, and a second loss to Weidman could change his mind on things. Regardless, I think he'll keep fighting for a time regardless of what happens in this fight, but for how long is anyone's guess.
[Anderson Silva art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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