Luis Henrique doesn’t plan on retiring anytime soon.
The 23-year-old heavyweight said he’s just getting warmed up. Henrique, who fights Marcin Tybura this Saturday night (March 4), wants to follow in the footsteps of mixed martial arts (MMA) legend Anderson Silva. “The Spider” is the No. 7 ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight at the age of 41. Silva will be 42 next month.
Henrique is entering his 13th professional MMA bout at UFC 209 in Las Vegas, Nevada. “KLB” told MMAJunkie.com that he plans on having way more bouts to his credit when he decides to call it quits in the not-so-near future:
“Right now, I’m a guy who’s getting there. Getting there slowly, taking one step at a time. I’m the youngest in the division, and I got into the UFC young, and I hope to fight until I’m 40 for them, hopefully. Do it like Anderson Silva, (who’s) 40-something and still fighting. I want to climb up the ranking. I want to win this fight, get my third win in a row, if God allows another submission – ascend the ranks slowly, making my way slowly to the belt.”
Henrique battles Tybura on the FOX Sports 1 portion of the UFC 209 prelims beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
