Anderson Silva Reveals How Many Fights He Has Left Before Retiring

Anderson Silva has been competing in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) for over 20 years.

At 43 years old, Silva is reaching the end of his storied career. Despite repeated setbacks in recent years, many consider him to be the greatest of all-time. While fans might have known that Silva’s career was reaching its end, they weren’t exactly sure how much longer the Brazilian really planned on sticking around.

Now we know.

Speaking to media recently, Silva stated that he plans on fighting three more times before hanging up his gloves for good. Two names that stick out to “The Spider” the most before retiring are Georges St-Pierre and Conor McGregor (via MMA Weekly):

“I have three more and then it’s done. It’s over. At his point in my career, I believe that the good challenge is the super fight. I talk to Dana about Georges St-Pierre, about (Conor) McGregor, about McGregor especially because McGregor is a challenge, this fight. I just talk to Dana a lot about the fight that’s very interesting.”

Before he can worry about a potential fight against “GSP” or McGregor, Silva must first focus on the task at hand. He’ll be taking on rising middleweight star Israel Adesanya, a man who has drawn a lot of comparisons to Silva as of late. The Nigerian is coming hot off a knockout victory over Derek Brunson at UFC 230.

Silva will face Adesanya at the UFC 234 pay-per-view (PPV) from the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia on February 9, 2019.