"I hope it’s true this time" - MMA world relieved as 'Bigfoot' Antonio Silva hangs up fighting gloves after 11th straight loss

Former UFC heavyweight Antonio Silva has decided to draw the curtains on his 19-year long professional mixed martial arts career.

Silva's last 11 fights resulted in a loss according to MMA Junkie. He had previously announced his retirement from the sport in December 2022 but returned to face Salim El Ouassaidi in the main event of Kingdom Fighting 1 on June 10. He lost the three-round bout via decision. Fans on Twitter hope it is his final outing in the sport and his retirement is legitimate this time around.

"I hope it’s true this time."

Fans also expressed their relief at 'Bigfoot' finally hanging up his gloves after enduring punishment in 12 of his last 16 fights by losing via knockout:

"Dude finally"

"Finally his brain worked"

"Hard to care when it clearly went on for to long. Hope he can retire with no internal side effects from any of the damage these past fights."

"He’s lost 11 of his last 12 fights & was finished in 9 of them. His family & friends should have stopped him a LONG time ago."

"500 years too late"

Fans also commented on Antonio Silva's longevity in the sport, while reminiscing on his iconic five-round battle with Mark Hunt in 2013, which followed his sole title fight against Cain Velasquez. The fight was called a draw before being overturned to a no-contest due to Silva failing a drug test:

"Bigfoot been around for ages."

"His fight with Hunt will be remembered forever"

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Antonio Silva retirement: 'Bigfoot' addresses fans on Instagram upon retirement

Antonio Silva potentially lost his final fight in mixed martial arts against Salim El Ouassaidi in the main event of Kingdom Fighting 1. After the fight, Silva prostrated in the middle of the cage and placed his gloves there to symbolize his retirement.

In an emotional post on Instagram, Silva announced his retirement from a lengthy and memorable career. He thanked God and his closest people for their influence on his career.

He wrote:

"Thank you God for everything, today I say goodbye to MMA after 19 years in a very hard fight with the 25-year-old athlete, we beat up for 3 rounds and in the end he took it by decision. I end my career very happy for everything I have achieved for almost 2 decades, thanking God first, then @eliwanderley @mariosukata @alexdavismma e @danlambertatt for everything they did in my professional life..."

Check out his post below: