Anderson Silva talks about the most important MMA fight of his career

Former UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva has revealed the most important fight of his MMA career. Anderson Silva has retired from the sport of MMA last year and is currently competing in the boxing circuit. Anderson Silva in his last MMA fight fought Uriah Hall on 31 October 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Hall vs. Silva. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round four. Following the loss, Silva posted a photo on Instagram in which he hinted about his retirement. In November 2020, the UFC announced that they had released Silva from his UFC contract.

Anderson Silva in his MMA career has fought many great fighters and holds victories over some of the all-time best. In his UFC career, he was widely famous for his 16-fight win streak in the UFC. He also holds several records in the UFC including most wins in UFC middleweight title fights and most successful UFC title defenses and many more. He holds wins over guys like Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Stephan Bonnar, Forest Griffin, and Demian Maia, etc.

In his latest interview, Anderson Silva was asked about the toughest fight to date, to which he answered by saying an unexpected name. He said his most important fight was Hayato “Mach” Sakurai whom he fought in 2001. At the time, Sakurai was undefeated with an 18-0-2 record in MMA and he was the Shooto welterweight champion.

“The most important fight in my career was my first world title in Japan, with Hayato Sakurai, when I won Shooto. I think this is the most important fight in my career, because without it I wouldn’t have the opportunity to have fought in Pride, to have fought in England and gone to the UFC. So I consider it more important,” Silva said.

Anderson Silva made his much-awaited boxing comeback against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on 19 June 2021. Chavez Jr missed the decided weight of 182 lbs. As he missed the weight he had to give $100,000 of his purse to Silva. Silva won the fight via split decision. Silva was the busier fighter throughout the fight throwing a total of 392 punches versus Chavez Jr’s 153.

Anderson Silva last fought fellow UFC light-heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz in 8 round boxing match which ended in the very first round. Anderson Silva knocked Tito Ortiz out cold in the very first round of the fight.