Ming Fu

The man is what 38 now? He is getting up there and should be on the decline. This is why I don't care much for a fight with Jones. I think the window for Anderson to be moving around weight classes has passed. If Anderson beats Jones then it just adds another win on his record, but if he loses I think most people would say,"Well he is too old, and he isn't fighting in his natural weight etc..." I for one think his legacy as the top p4p fighter of all time is already cemented in my mind regardless if he starts losing.

Or do you guys think that he still needs to keep winning like Henderson and Couture do/did at their respective ages?

Iuanes

Anderson is on his own pedestal as regards to his MMA legacy already. Sure, losing would smudge his unbeaten UFC record and his aura of (recent) invincibility, but nothing, I think, will knock him off that exclusive perch.

I disagree with the statement that a win over Jon Jones wouldn't be a major addition to his reputation. The word legend gets thrown around a lot, and usually too casually. If Silva were to beat the New Phenom that is Jon Jones, a man that has crushed an entire division, and made it look easy, without even cracking the age of twenty five, if Anderson were to beat this Champion at a heavier weight class he might be able to cement himself as the best ever in the sport, when the sport is only in its juvensescence.

That would make for legend.

LL

No, his legacy's pretty much cemented.

He has every record imaginable in the UFC and is easily the most dominant Champion for now, I think if Bones stays at 205 he'll shatter those records but that'll take a while.

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SM33

No? Who cares? UFC page is starting to look like Sherdog, load of fantasy land threads.

Silva is No. 1 in the world right now, he has reached legendary status and no matter what happens in the future or who takes over as No. 1, Silva's work is done and will not be downplayed by anyone with half a brain.

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hellholming

why would a loss tarnish anything? I hate that saying "oh, he's tarnishing his legacy, etc.."

it's not like it would erase everything he's done before that.

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vilify

It shouldn't but it will tarnish his legacy.

Voiceless

A fight against Jones as retirementfight would be good. If Silva were to lose, it would be the passing of the torch to a guy who admires him and wants to step in his footsteps. If he were to win, it would be a final statement of uberdominance.

Nothing to lose there for Silva.

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Woodenhead

It always does. Look at Fedor.

SM33

Fedor steered clear/was kept away from the biggest MMA stage on the planet, he's certainly a legend but not on Silva's level IMO, and it's not because he lost a couple fights at the end.

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Hiro

Depends who it is who gets that W over him. I think it would, just like any loss typically does but given how he's gone unbeaten in so many UFC fights it will go down as him coming to the end of his career and being over the hill.

The fact is if he retires now he retires an invincible fighter who demolished every top middleweight. Put a loss on the end of his career and suddenly he wasn't invincible just dominant for a very long period of time.

I say let Rashad fight him and if Silva wins, retire.