Chris Leben hits hard too -- just ask Aaron Simpson or Jorge Santiago or Terry Martin. But Leben's strategy of sacrificing defense to land his own punches, betraying an otherwise well-rounded skill set, always prevented him from transcending the role of PPV slugfest fodder.
So when Chris Leben faceplants Wanderlei Silva in 27 seconds, people start asking whether the latter should hang up his wrist-rolling gloves. And those people count Dana White among their numbers.
"People love him so much because of the way he fights and his style and the type of person he is, but yeah, (it's) probably the end of the road for Wanderlei," White told MMA Junkie. "I think it's one of those ones where I'd like to sit down and talk to him and kind of Chuck Liddell him into it."
White had to talk Liddell into retirement following a third-consecutive knockout loss to a one-armed Rich Franklin at UFC 115 just over a year ago. And that was White's second attempt -- he unilaterally announced Liddell's retirement following a knockout to Mauricio Rua in 2009.
Silva, who has yet to speak with White and did not attend the post-fight press conference, is cut from the same cloth. When asked about his future, Silva expressed plans to fight ten fight over the next five years.
"I think the guy has nothing left to prove," said White.
In 15-plus years in the sport, Silva has compiled a 33-11-1 record. He held Pride's middleweight title for over years, and won that company's middleweight grand prix tournament in 2003. He turns 35 today.
