There have been some short retirements throughout mixed martial arts history, but Antonio Silva is likely toward the top of the list.
Sunday, “Bigfoot” Silva (19-15) revealed in an Instagram post he intends to fight again. The “comeback” comes just eight days after he announced his retirement following an 11th-straight combat sports defeat.
“Let’s do a rematch @kingdom.fighting @giompeltier,” Silva wrote. “I’m ready and I’m coming back from retirement to fight again because I know I didn’t lose.”
Silva, 43, competed Saturday at Kingdom Fighting 1 in Grenoble, France, where he lost a unanimous decision to Salim El Oussaidi (6-1). Since then, he’s disputed the judges’ decision, which was only the second non-knockout/TKO loss of his 11-fight skid.
“I’m very happy and satisfied,” Silva said, after he placed his gloves in the center of the cage. “We never want to stop, no professional athlete wants to stop, even in volleyball or football, but everything has a time, and I did this for 19 years.”
“Bigfoot” had some signature wins prior to the marathon of defeats that closed his career. On his rise to UFC title challenger notoriety, Silva defeated the likes of Andrei Arlovski, Fedor Emelianenko, Travis Browne, Alistair Overeem, and Soa Palelei.
His UFC Fight Night 33 main event against Mark Hunt in December 2013 is widely regarded as one of the best heavyweight MMA fights of all time. The five-round battle was initially ruled a draw, before it was overturned to a no contest due to a positive drug test by Silva.
