Eight days after announcing his retirement from combat sports, Antonio Silva has un-retired once again.
The former UFC heavyweight title contender first announced his retirement in December 2022, saying “everybody has a limit.” But he eventually returned and suffered another MMA loss, this time a decision to Salim El Ouassaidi at Kingdom Fighting 1 on June 10 in France.
Now on a 11-fight losing skid across four sports — MMA, boxing, kickboxing and bare-knuckle boxing — Silva took to social media to ask for a rematch with Ouassaidi.
“I’m ready and I’m coming back from retirement to fight again because I know I didn’t lose,” Silva wrote on his Instagram page.
Silva said moments after the loss that “everything has a beginning and an end, and I’m very happy and satisfied. 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” was knocked out in nine of his past 11 bouts dating back to 2015. The Brazilian heavyweight hasn’t won a fight since a second-round knockout over Soa Palelei in Aug. 2015, his sole victory in 16 matches since 2013.
