If Anderson Silva retired after Chael 2

[frandie2b]

He would've been 37 y.o with :

- An undefeated UFC record : 15 victories and 12 title defenses
- No PED scandal
- A 33-4 record overall
- A final win over Chael Sonnen in a "big drama show"

I'm curious to know how he would be considered today.

 

[erron]

people would still find a way to shit on him, like they do with khabib

 

[beephin]

"ducking Stephan Bonnar, not in the GOAT discussion"

 

[grimballer]

Like hes considered now:

Ufc goat and arguably overall mma goat

 

[Snarly]

"ducking Stephan Bonnar, not in the GOAT discussion"

Such a great fight too! Bonnar comes out blasted on PEDs and takes it to Silva immediately, but can hardly touch him (there is one great pic though). Clock hits the one minute mark or something, Silva decides he's done clowning around, throws one strike and ends the fight from there. Legend.

 

[DebtCollectorMMA]

 

[VVarhead]

He never had a PED scandal, he popped for something similiar to viagra at 40+ years old after his vicious leg injury.
The substance he took is barely "performance enhancing", that would be like saying snorting a line of speed is performance enhancing and equating it to what Jon Jones did.

Even Chael admits that this was bullshit:


Also lol he mostly fought proven roiders and nobody gave a shit back then. USADA didn't exist.
I can't believe noobs use this to shit on Anderson when they just don't understand it was a different time.

 

[textwarrior]

He would've been 37 y.o with :

- An undefeated UFC record : 15 victories and 12 title defenses
- No PED scandal
- A 33-4 record overall
- A final win over Chael Sonnen in a "big drama show"

I'm curious to know how he would be considered today.

True fight fans know what he did, and not focus on how he aged as a fighter. I don't look at him less as a fighter. It is hard to be on top then its all gone or you see it slipping away.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

“Ducking all these upcoming contenders who’ve never even been on the main card yet!”

~ Sherdog

 

[TheSpider]

Silva still holds nearly all of UFC’s most prestigious records, 7 years later and counting.

 

[Snake Master]

Nobody would know about his dirty ped secret, wonder how many other legends got out before they got caught.

 

[Masturbin]

Prime Silva was pure magic not a lot of fighters managed to do that

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

He would've been 37 y.o with :

- An undefeated UFC record : 15 victories and 12 title defenses
- No PED scandal
- A 33-4 record overall
- A final win over Chael Sonnen in a "big drama show"

I'm curious to know how he would be considered today.

Interesting question for sure. I was just mentioning elsewhere that growing up seeing him in Pride, I was pretty underwhelmed....so when he showed up in the UFC I really wasn't expecting much from him.

 

[Fight Professor]

If Fedor and Anderson retired right after their peak, nobody would be calling Khabib the GOAT. While the end of a career should not define a fighter's accomplishments it does have an affect on their overall legacy.

Jones is the next fighter who might do the same mistake. If I were him, I would get a top 5 fight at HW and would retire in case of a win.

 

[kingghidrah]

He would've been 37 y.o with :

- An undefeated UFC record : 15 victories and 12 title defenses
- No PED scandal
- A 33-4 record overall
- A final win over Chael Sonnen in a "big drama show"

I'm curious to know how he would be considered today.

And can you imagine how hyped up the fight with Daniel Cormier would have been?

After Bones popped, Silva stepped in and it was STILL considered a big deal. If Anderson hadn't lost all those fights and popped himself, the Silva-Cormier fight would have been 5x as big, with Silva fighting for the first time in 4 years.

By that point, no one thought Silva had a chance, but it would have been totally different if he'd retired and come back.

Even taking a loss there his legend would have just grown. Yes, Silva should have retired after Chael 2 (or Bonner, which followed)

 

[mmadeewana]

He would've been 37 y.o with :

- An undefeated UFC record : 15 victories and 12 title defenses
- No PED scandal
- A 33-4 record overall
- A final win over Chael Sonnen in a "big drama show"

I'm curious to know how he would be considered today.

undisputed GOAT