The Doggy Bag: The Information Overload Edition
Hanging Up the Axe
Wanderlei Silva is the fighter that got me into MMA. The first time I saw him rolling his wrists in Pride and killing Kazushi Sakuraba, I knew this was “my sport.” After he beat Brian Stann like that in Japan, I would have loved to see him hang up his gloves, but I know he is a fighter, like Chuck Liddell, that will be forced to retire. What do you think the UFC will do with him next and how long before UFC President Dana White publicly calls for him to retire like he did with Liddell? -- Vance from Washington
Brian Knapp, features editor:The older I get, the more passionate I become about this subject. We all want our sports heroes to walk off into the sunset in a blaze of glory, but, more often than not, that has proven to be the road less traveled. For every Barry Sanders who left at the height of his power, there are 10 Johnny Unitases who stretched themselves a little too far.
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As observers, we are right to fear for the long-term health of our combat sports greats because we all know there are limits to what the human body can withstand. The revelations which continue to come forth regarding concussions and their consequences only enhance those feelings. However, most of our sports heroes do not leave when most feel they should, and it became clear from Silva’s post-fight remarks at UFC on Fuel TV 8 that he intends to fight again.
No one 25 years from now wants to see a 60-year-old Silva in the same deteriorated condition as some of his prizefighting predecessors, with slurred speech and impaired motor skills. However, there is a price to pay when you make a living with your fists, and those who follow mixed martial arts should understand this better than anyone. Until a doctor deems him unfit for competition, athletic commissions refuse to sanction him or promoters decline to sign him, the decision on when to retire belongs to Silva. For better or worse, storybook endings are usually confined to storybooks.
As far as what might come next for him, I hope the UFC finds a way to put him in the cage with a less heavy-handed foe, perhaps a returning Forrest Griffin. In his last 11 appearances, Silva has fought Stann, Rich Franklin (twice), Cung Le, Chris Leben, Michael Bisping, Quinton Jackson, Keith Jardine, Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson and Mirko Filipovic. Those 10 men have combined for 128 knockouts between them, so even with his 4-7 record, maybe Silva has fared a little better in that stretch than we realize.
Continue Reading » Finding a Holm in the UFC
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