Machida: I Will Retire If Silva And Teixeira Hold Belts At The Same Time
At UFC 168 in December, Anderson Silva will attempt to recapture his belt from middleweight champ Chris Weidman. Glover Teixeira is waiting for a date to take on light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones sometime next year. If both Silva and Teixeira are victorious in their title fights, Lyoto Machida’s fighting future may be over.
Speaking to TATAME ‘The Dragon’ had this to say in regards to Silva and Teixeira holding UFC belts at the same time:
“If that happens, I retire, (Silva) told me he would not fight me for anything because we are like brothers. Anderson told me that he has no other goals, but let’s see how things will go.”
Machida knocked out friend and training partner Mark Munoz at UFC Fight Night 30 in his middleweight debut. After the fight ‘The Dragon’ said he will still compete at light-heavyweight if he has to. Machida is the former light-heavyweight champion but decided to drop to his more suited weight class after a loss to Phil Davis at UFC 163.
Machida is set to face off against middleweight prospect Gegard Mousasi at a UFC on Fuel TV event in February. Weidman and Silva will have squared off by the time Machida next steps foot in the cage. If Weidman is again victorious Machida could find himself fighting for the middleweight title late in 2014. If Silva is victorious ‘The Dragon’ will have to wait until Jones and Teixeira face off before he determines his future.
Do you think Machida will retire if Teixeira and Silva are both victorious? Or do you think it’s more likely ‘The Spider’ will retire to make way for ‘The Dragon?’