Former UFC middleweight champion (up to 83,9kg) , Anderson Silva may have found a new home for his final MMA fight . The president of the RIZIN Fighting Federation, Nobuyuki Sakakibara, confirmed that he is in contact with "The Spider" and is interested in promoting his farewell fight in Japan.
Sakakibara was the leader of PRIDE, the event that revealed Anderson Silva to the world of MMA in the early 2000s. The executive said he has a great relationship with the Brazilian and is willing to listen to his ideas and proposals to fulfill his dream of retiring in the "Land of the Rising Sun".
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“ Anderson Silva has already fought for us – our relationship goes back a long way. To answer the question, yes, we have talked. For us, if he has any ideas and if he really wants to do something, our doors are always open, we are always here to listen. If things make sense, we will think about something,” Sakakibara told the MMA Fighting website.
Anderson Silva in Japan?
Anderson Silva , 48, left the UFC in 2020 after losing by technical knockout to Uriah Hall . Since then, he has ventured into boxing, where he defeated Julio César Chávez Jr. and Tito Ortiz , and lost to Jake Paul.
“Spider” has a successful history in Japan, where he had seven fights between 2001 and 2004, for Shooto and PRIDE. He won the Shooto belt and knocked out opponents like Carlos Newton, Hayato Sakurai and Alex Stiebling.
There is still no date or opponent set for Anderson Silva 's potential fight at RIZIN. The Japanese event usually puts on big shows at the end of the year, on New Year's Eve, and this could be an opportunity for the Brazilian to say goodbye to MMA in style.
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