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[Cat--Smasher]

Wanderlei happy to get win over ‘new generation' fighter in Stann; says ‘slow down' retirement talks

Wanderlei Silva happy to get win over ?new generation' fighter in Brian Stann; says ?slow down' retirement talks - MMAmania.com

"I make one fight each time," Silva said. "When I feel good, when I feel healthy I'm going to fight. Sometimes I have the rope on the neck and I'll be dead then pop, again, it comes off a little bit, so if the public wants we are there, but not yet."

There is a contingent who believes it would be a storybook ending to Silva's career if he retired after a stellar performance against a legitimate opponent in a main event fight in his adoptive home country of Japan. And while it's hard to make an argument against it, Silva is constantly putting on ‘Fight of the Night' worthy performances and tells fans calling for his retirement to slow down, because he isn't done yet.

"I make three ‘fights of the night' in a row against Cung Le, against Franklin and right now, I make four bonuses in three fights," explained Silva. "I don't know what I can do better. The last fight was so close, I was so close to beat Franklin and I don't know man, why do the guys want to retire me? Slow down.

"The public is the boss, the public wants [me to fight], I will be there."

[NAL987]

Hopefully he'll hear the public saying retire.

If you're a fight fan in general, you're a fan of Wandy but there's nothing else he needs to prove and he's not gonna be getting a title shot any time soon over other top 5 or 10 guys in the division.

Plus winning by KO in Japan is a great way to put a stamp on his career.

[lwbrewer]

Hard to calculate how many hits his head has taken, is some of his talking only due to his lack of english, or numerous wars he's been in?
I like any fights be at catch weight were he doesn't interfear with rankings[ stupid me UFC doesn't use rankings.lol.] Wandi still has much excitement in him just not sure how much damage his head has taken, and if he's already past the limit.

[FE_EatsChildren]

i dunno man. i don't want wand to take unnecessary punishment either, but he's only got ko'd by people who have serious knockout power. i think i'd be more worried if he was getting ko'd by people who weren't known for doing it. i guess i'm kind of on the fence about this... wand on one hand is still getting those wins and all of his losses aren't like they are knockouts, but.... on the other wand get wobbled pretty damn often and that scares me.

those minor head traumas can't be good for him especially how chute boxe use to train. wanderlei is the man (i don't think anyone would argue against that) and i want him to be happy. i just don't want him to be a punch drunk person by the time he's 40 either. i hope he'll find a happy medium and know when enough will be enough. fans can be greedy so i hope he doesn't listen to everything we want.

[W.Silva>C.Norris]

I will support Wanderlei as long has he wants to fight. If he wants to keep going for another 10 years, he's earned that right. If he chooses to retire now, he's earned that just as much. The man is an absolute warrior, who shows the respect the sport deserves, even in a loss.

In short, Wanderlei for president.

[Y2JUBAE]

He looked good in his last few fights. Much better than he did in the Leben fight.

[Pasha K]

People want him to retire because they do not want to see his career ending like Lidell's, Crocop's, Sakuraba's and many others.

Of course Wand is still a very good fighter, but he gets knocked down in every single fight so there is always the risk that he may end KOd cold like he did against Rampage and Leben. People do not want to see that, he is one of the most beloved fighters in MMA, maybe the most beloved of all of them.

Also they want him to retire now, because it would be the perfect ending for a brilliant career.
Retire after a KO win over a Top 10/15 guy in the place where he had his best years of glory.

It is much better to retire in that way, rather than retiring after 3 straight loses by brutal KO.

[H0SS]

Like Pasha said, Wandy just needs to look at the tail-end of Chuck Liddell's career. As great as Chuck was, receiving those brutal KO's did end up hurting his legacy somewhat.

Coming back to Japan after 6 years and knocking out Stann in a fight of the year contender that showcased everything the fans loved about Wandy... that's about as perfect of an ending as you can get.

[ziggy]

I think he needs to hang out with Mohammad Ali for a little bit... It would be different if he won his fight decisively and without taking huge shots. But honestly that fight could have gone either way. Taking all those head shots can not be good for his health...

[rspier]

I will admit I was ready for him to retire a few fights ago, but his last couple have made me change my mind. It's a great time for him to go. That fight would be a golden exit, and I certainly don't want to see him go out like chuck, or crocop... But I'll respect his desicion as a fighter and a man.