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Rizin Fighting Federation CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara has expressed the desire to sign former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the Japanese promotion.
Anderson Silva was recently released by the UFC following his TKO loss to Uriah Hall in the headliner of UFC Vegas 12 on Halloween night. UFC president Dana White even claimed that he made a mistake by allowing Silva to fight against Hall. Even though the loss against Hall marked the end of the road for the Brazilian fight game veteran in the UFC, Silva said that he has no plans of hanging his gloves anytime soon.
"Hello, my people...I didn’t want to talk about this subject, because I’m on vacation and as the saying goes “a deal is a deal”. I will make it clear to all my fans that the moment is one of joy and gratitude! I feel free, an attempt to force my retirement! I love and always loved what I do, winning or losing is part of it, it has absolutely nothing to do with age, I made technical mistakes and lost, but I didn't lose the main thing, the will and the desire to continue doing what I love, I still have the warrior spirit and beyond that flame in my heart that motivates me, I have total belief that I can continue competing in the elite level of MMA. I take this moment to reflect on my career and outline my next steps. Stay Tuned!!!"
Anderson Silva could begin the final chapter of his career in Japan
Sakakibara was the former boss of the now-defunct Japanese promotion Pride, and has worked with Silva before. Now that Anderson Silva is no longer under contract with the UFC, Sakakibara wants to get The Spider back to Japan with Rizin FF
“I have great memories with Anderson Silva from the PRIDE days and in my personal opinion I think his career took off in Japan,” Sakakibara said in a statement that was also released to several MMA news outlets. “I have heard that Japan has a special part in his heart as well. I haven’t talked to him yet but I would be interested to see if we can come up with something that makes sense for him to start his final chapter in Japan.”
Anderson Silva is now 45 years old and on a dismal run of 1-7 inside the Octagon and his only win in his last eight fights came against Derek Brunson.
