Laura Mooney
Arts Editor | ote-arts@unbc.ca

e may be down, but he will definitely never be out. After suffering

what would seemingly be a career ending leg break during a
scheduled middleweight championship fight with Chris Weidman in
December of 2013, reports have begun to circulate that UFC legend

Anderson Silva is considering returning to the world famous octagon later
this year. The brutal fight, in which Silva suffered a broken left tibia and
fibula, was considered to be one of the most brutal in all of UFC history,
with one of the worst injuries every sustained by a fighter. Every person
watching the fight at the time assumed the horrible break would be the
end to the ten-time champion’s career. Even UFC CEO Dana White was not

completely sure if one of his star fighters would ever come back to the

sport.

As of the end of January 2014, rumors have
begun to swirl around Silva’s return to
UFC as soon as the end of the year. Silva’s
correspondents have released comments
stating that Silva’s leg is healing properly
and he was even asking when he could
train again mere hours after his surgery.
Silva’s manager went so far as to say that
Silva will return and is already eyeing up
his next opponents. This decision however
is causing some big names in the UFC
world to raise their eyebrows and question
whether or not this is the right decision
for the seasoned fighter to make. UFC

commentator Joe Rogan openly discussed
his opposition to Silva’s comeback while
appearing as guest on the SiriusXM Opie
and Anthony radio talk show. Rogan stated
that since the leg would now be a known
weak spot to Silva’s opponents, he would
be at a massive disadvantage if he stepped
into the octagon once again. He went on
to say that his opponents would look to
target the leg, risking a break once again.
Fellow fighter Jon Jones also believes that
Silva would be making a huge mistake

by fighting once again. Jones stated that
Silva has been a huge inspiration to

many fighters and should continue to be
an inspiration, just from outside of the
octagon as a motivational speaker, and says
he is praying that Silva will stay away from
the sport from now on.

On the other hand, once hearing the news
that Silva’s recovery was going well, Dana
white released a statement expressing that
he did expect the UFC superstar to be back
fighting by the end of 2014. In an interview
with Sportsnation, White expressed how
exceptionally well Silva was doing with his
recovery, and believed that even though

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he was not, at this point, walking yet, he
expected him to be back training in as little
as six months.

Despite the debate that has risen up around
Silva’s return to the UFC, Silva has proven
in the past to be a man full of surprises,
and he still has the opportunity to shock us
all with the decision he may make. Overall
it may come down to what his boss, Dana
white, urges him to do, but here is hoping
that Silva’s choice is for the better, and will
not end up in another tragic accident.