UFC legend Anderson Silva throws a curveball, denies next fight with "great friend" Terry Crews hours after initial announcement

The buzz surrounding a celebrity boxing fight between Anderson Silva and Terry Crews has ceased as quickly as it started. In a puzzling turn of events, Silva released a video on X claiming he would not be fighting Crews just hours after accepting a callout from the actor.

In a video posted on his Instagram account on the afternoon of May 19, Silva announced to his fans that the previously reported fight between himself and Crews would not actually be happening. Instead, 'The Spider' teased an upcoming announcement on his genuine opponent later in the night.

Translated to English, Silva said:

"So look, I was expecting the fight to be me and Terry Crews. But it won't be with Terry. Terry is a great friend that I have, a guy that I love very much [and] that I have great affection for.

"Tonight at Fantastico, you will be able to find out who my opponent is ... [It will be] my last fight here in Brazil. I'm also excited to find out who it is. I don't know who it is yet."

In his statement, Anderson Silva appeared to be just as ill-informed about the situation as everyone else. The former UFC champion told his fans that as of the time of the video, he claims to not know who the opponent will be.

It remains unclear if the back-and-forth interaction between Silva and Crews was a publicity stunt or a true misunderstanding between the two friends.

Silva, however, has been promoting a supposed boxing fight in Brazil occurring on June 15 for several days.

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Anderson Silva teases June 15 retirement fight on social media

Regardless of who he ends up facing in the ring, it seems likely that June 15 will mark the final outing in the legendary combat sports career of Anderson Silva. Since May 17, 'The Spider' has teased the date as his final outing, noting that he will participate in one last boxing fight in his home country against an unidentified opponent.

In his Instagram post, the 49-year-old warned fans that "a lot more surprises" will be coming but shared that he will be competing in Spaten Fight Night.

As of May 19, the targeted date of June 15 remains less than a month out, but Spaten Fight Night has yet to name an opponent for the UFC Hall of Famer.

Since losing to Jake Paul in 2022, Anderson Silva has yet to return to the ring. With the chaos surrounding his final fight, the opponent could be any one of a large number of people, but it will allegedly not be Terry Crews.