Today, Drake Riggs reported that RIZIN FF Founder and President Nobuyuki Sakakibara has expressed interest in helping Anderson Silva “fulfill his wishes” and “start his final chapter in Japan.”
“I do feel that I would like to help him fulfill his wishes out of respect for what he has accomplished and what he has done for our sport,” told MyMMANews. “I haven’t talked to him yet but I would be interested to see if we can come up with something that makes sense for him to start his final chapter in Japan.”
After Bellator, ONE Championship, PFL, and BKFC all expressed disinterest in signing Silva, an opportunity has seemingly appeared for the mixed martial arts legend.
But, it’s important to note that although Sakakibara has expressed interest in helping Silva finish his career in Japan, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be with RIZIN.
In this video, Matthew Wells, Ant Walker, and Patrick Auger discuss the news.
Auger comments that Bellator, ONE Championship, PFL, and BKFC have all likely passed merely because of the price associated with signing the 45-year-old. But if he was to sign anywhere, Auger would like to see him land at RIZIN.
Walker agrees and would like to see Silva finish his career at RIZIN as well. But he finds it hard to believe that Bellator, ONE Championship, PFL, and BKFC are not interested in signing Silva. Walker says that these promotions are not genuinely concerned about fighter safety or protecting Silva’s reputation, as they have each noted, and points to recent contradictions from each promotion.
Wells feels like it’s more about these promotions not being able to fill arenas amid the coronavirus pandemic. If they could sell tickets and get people on seats, then it’d be an entirely different story. He comments that this could be partly the reason why Japan is a standout option for Silva at this time.
Would you like to see Anderson Silva finish his career in Japan? Will it happen? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.