The Savage Truth: When Is Enough Enough?

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media. It’s a question that has been posed for decades: When should combat sports athletes hang up the gloves? After Sunday’s UFC Fight Night in Rotterdam, yet another fighter has been added to the “Who’s time is up?” list. Antonio Silva was ushered out of the cage in just 16 seconds via a Stefan Struve knee and follow-up elbows. It was Silva’s fifth first-round knockout loss in his last seven starts dating back to May 2013. When you consider he has just one win over journeyman Soa Palelei and a win that was changed to a draw with Mark Hunt after he tested positive for PEDs in that timespan, you have to wonder what “Bigfoot” is bringing to the table at this point in his career. I have always said it is the fighter’s decision, along with their family, coaches and loved ones, to make the call about when to give up their career as a prizefighter. The same goes for other high-impact sports such as football or hockey. When you talk to them about taking years off their lives, most understand the risks and are willing to trade some time at the end for a job that provides pretty handsomely for their families, and one that they tend to love doing. It creates quite a conundrum for the promoters and leagues that employ, or “independently contract,” with them. The UFC has done a pretty good job of policing themselves in regards to keeping fighters around beyond their expiration dates. We all saw what happened when Chuck Liddell dropped five of his last six fights, four of them by knockout. Dana White went public about his desire to see “The Iceman” retire. With all the concussion-related lawsuits we’ve seen in other sports over the last few years, it is no wonder so much interest is being paid to combat sports and their participants’ long-term well-being. We’ve seen the …

continue reading in source www.sherdog.com