Anderson Silva Cleared To Resume Training MMA
Legendary former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has been out of action since he suffered a gruesome broken leg while kicking current champion Chris Weidman in the second round of their anticipated rematch at UFC 168 last December.
“The Spider’s” road to recovery certainly hasn’t been as long as the horrific scene first suggested, directly after which many believed Silva had fought his last UFC bout.
However, Silva persevered on, benefitting from a clean break and immediate surgery to resume training in what seemed like an insanely short amount of time.
Videos chronicled his rehabilitation. He was shown walking down the stairs, then training grappling, then hitting the pads, and then sparring.
Today, his biggest step towards returning to the cage has been taken. Manager Ed Soares told MMAjunkie.com that Silva’s doctor at Los Angeles’ respected Kerlan-Jobe clinic has cleared him to resume training in MMA, an incredible feat considering how dire the situation once seemed.
Not surprisingly, UFC President Dana White has been adamant (and hopeful) that Silva would return before the end of this year, discussing the topic last Friday:
“He could be the last fight of this year or the first fight of next year.”
Soares was apparently in agreement with that timeframe, but said it was too early to iron out such details. White offered a simple and obvious answer when questioned about Silva returning before the year is up:
“That would be great.”
Indeed it would be great to see the former longtime champ make his way back to the Octagon by the end of the year. Although Silva recently said that fighting in 2014 is not going to happen, White insists that that’s just Anderson being Anderson:
“What? Anderson Silva is saying something completely opposite of what’s happening? I don’t believe it. This is what he does every time he talks to the media. He says, ‘I absolutely will not fight Chael Sonnen again.’
He always does that with the media. I don’t know if he likes to play with you guys or what he likes to do, but I said, he’ll be back in 2014 or first thing in 2015. End of 2014 or beginning of 2015 is what I said.”
Only time will tell if White’s prognostication is true, because Silva tends to march to the beat of his own drum. At 39 years old, there’s no certainty that he wants to make another title run when he does comes back.
But there are a ton of potentially exciting fights that he could be involved in, and with injuries continuing to ravage card after card, the UFC can use all the star power it can get. Will we see the return of one the sport’s all-time greats before 2014 is up?
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea for USA TODAY Sports
