Wanderlei Silva isn’t ruling out the possibility of retiring following his next fight.
On Sept. 29, “The Axe Murderer” will renew an old rivalry. Silva is set to go one-on-one with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson once more. Silva has won two bouts against Jackson, while “Rampage” has one victory over “The Axe Murderer.”
The two first did battle under the Pride FC banner back in 2003. Silva won the bout via TKO. Their second encounter occurred one year later. Silva won the bout again, only this time he laid Jackson out cold. “Rampage” would finally get his revenge in late 2008 under the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) banner. Jackson knocked out Silva in the first round.
When they collide a fourth time, it’ll be under the Bellator banner. Silva told MMAJunkie.com that it could be his last bout as he intends to run for Brazilian congress:
“I’m not going to accept money from anybody. I’m going to use the media to promote my name because I want to be there with my hands clean, to be different. Maybe this is going to be my last fight, and after, I’ll go to the next step.”
If Silva does walk away after the “Rampage” fight, he will have retired with 51 professional mixed martial arts bouts. His current record stands at 35-13-1, 1 NC. At the age of 41 and approaching 42 next month, many feel it’s long overdue.
“The Axe Murderer” began his professional MMA career back in Nov. 1996. Over the last two decades, Silva has captured the Pride FC middleweight title and holds the record for most successful title defenses in the promotion’s history.
How do you think Wanderlei Silva will be remembered once he retires?
