Bigfoot Silva wants to retire in two years, sees 2018 as his ‘comeback year’

Former heavyweight title challenger, Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva has had some tough outings in the last few years. However, as he goes through the worst span of his entire MMA career, the 38-year-old still thinks he has a couple of good years left to spend in professional fighting.

After losing eight of his last ten fights, seven of those by way of KO, the Brazilian confessed he has been thinking about retirement and what else he will do once he hangs up the gloves for good. As Silva told Ag Fight, he wishes to spend his post-MMA years running his own gym.

“One thing nobody wants to think about is retirement, but that’s a part of every fighter’s life. I think about fighting for two more years, but I still want to be involved with martial arts when I retire. I still want to do what I love. I want to open a jiu-jitsu gym. I’ve always wanted to work with children and feel that good energy. Of course I also want to work with adults, but only amateurs. I don’t want to train any professional MMA fighters. In the future, as one thing leads to another, I might start doing it. For now, I just want to put my gi on and teach some jiu-jitsu classes.”

After going under the knife to treat a torn ACL, Bigfoot still needs two more months to fully heal before he can be cleared to train again. Although he has a contract with Russian promotion Fight Nights, the heavyweight won’t rule out fighting for other promotions as well. In his opinion, Silva could be back in action as early as August.

“I’m still in Russia. I’ve signed a four-fight contract. I believe I should be back in November. I had surgery on my knee and I’ll have to sit out until May. I’ll need some time to get back in shape and for my knee to get strong again. Some other promotions have called me and they want me to fight in August. We’ve talking about it to see if we can work something out. My contract allows me to fight for other promotions.”

As for his current five-fight skid, Bigfoot did not seem too shaken up by all the knockout losses. In the Brazilian’s opinion, the current string of losses is nothing but a phase to overcome, which is something he plans to do in 2018.

“I’ve had great moments and now I’m going through some hard times, but I’m sure I’ll get back on the horse. I’ve been having a blessed 2018. God has given me a son and my surgery was a sucess and I’m recuperating greatly. So I believe 2018 will be comeback year”.

Antonio Silva’s last win came in August 2015, when he knocked out Soa Palelei in the second round of UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.