Michael Bisping: Anderson Silva Should Retire, ‘Doesn’t Need To Give Anymore’

Michael Bisping believes Father Time has truly caught up with former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Silva suffered his sixth loss in his last eight fights at UFC 237 when an inside leg kick from Jared Cannonier caused his knee to buckle.

With Silva writhing in pain, referee Herb Dean immediately called an end to the fight towards the closing seconds of the first round.

The Rio de Janeiro crowd went silent as the 44-year-old was later helped out of the Octagon to the back. There is no word yet on the seriousness of the injury, but “The Spider” is not expected back anytime soon.

And for Bisping, who defeated Silva via unanimous decision over three years ago, he hopes the former middleweight king finally decides to call it a day.

“Anderson Silva is a true legend of the sport – he’s given so much,” Bisping said on the UFC 237 post-fight show on ESPN+ (via MMA Junkie). “(He was) a longtime champion, but he’s 44 years old. A lot of people wondered, ‘Why is he still fighting?’ I think tonight, even though he looked OK, the fight obviously ended. He took a little inside leg kick and I think that he tore his ACL. I don’t think we’ll ever see Anderson Silva fight again. He certainly doesn’t need to.

“Father Time has caught up (with him). With the greatest of respect, Anderson Silva needs to retire. He’s already given so much to this sport. He doesn’t need to give any more. Enjoy retirement.”

Silva certainly has nothing left to prove. One could argue he should have retired years ago even.

But it’s also obvious that he still enjoys competing at this level. Do you think we’ll see him back in the Octagon again?