8 Reasons Anderson Silva Should Retire

I'm not trying to say that Anderson Silva should definitely retire, but there are certainly some logical reasons for him to call it quits.

This past weekend at UFC 134, Silva decimated challenger Yushin Okami, winning by TKO inside of two rounds.

This victory was Silva's fourteenth straight win in the UFC and his ninth consecutive defense of the UFC Middleweight Championship.

Silva is widely considered the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time and the best pound for pound fighter in the world today.

Given that he is still on top of his game, it likely seems an odd suggestion for Silva to retire now, but there are some valid reasons for him to call it a career.

Here's eight reasons Anderson Silva should retire now...

He Doesn't Need the Money

Silva has probably made enough money just with the UFC that he and his kids could live their entire lives without needing a cent.

On top of that, he is a superstar in Brazil and makes a ton of money from sponsorships.

Recently, Silva appeared in a commercial for Burger King, airing in Brazil.

Considering all the money he has made from fighting, plus the money he makes through his sponsorships and endorsements, Silva could easily retire right now and have no financial worries.

He'll Have More Time to Spend with His Family

The woman in this picture is Silva's lovely wife.

Together, the couple has five children, three sons and two daughters.

The schedule of an MMA fighter, especially a UFC fighter, is very demanding and while I'm sure that Silva spends as much time with his family as he can, there's no doubt that he has to spend a lot of time away from them.

Retiring now would enable Silva to spend much more time with his wife and children, which I'm sure he would enjoy.

He's Got Nothing Left to Prove

Some people are just born to play a certain sport and they can do it better than anyone else in the world.

Silva was born to compete in MMA in the same way that Wayne Gretzky was born to play hockey; it's his calling.

He has already shattered the UFC records for most consecutive wins and most consecutive title defenses.

His highlight reel of knockouts puts almost every other fighter to shame and Silva also has quite a few slick submissions to his name.

Silva has also moved up in weight, twice, and fought in the light heavyweight division, decisively winning both of those bouts.

In short, Silva has done everything we could possibly ask him to, within reason; he has nothing left to prove to us.

There's No Really Interesting Fights Left for Him at Middleweight

I know, I know, a lot of you want to see Silva vs. Sonnen 2.

I'll admit that fight is kind of interesting and is probably Silva's only real worth-while fight left in the middleweight division.

That said, Silva injured his rib in the early goings of his first fight with Sonnen and Sonnen was on PEDs.

With all that working in his favor, Sonnen couldn't win the fight, so I don't see him pulling it out the second time around.

Apart from Sonnen, the middleweight division has nothing left to offer Silva.

There are fighters out there that Silva has not faced yet, like Brian Stann and Mark Munoz, but neither or them look like they have what it takes to dethrone the long time middleweight champ.

Superfights Are Stupid

A lot of people want to see Silva take part in some super-fights before he retires, either against Georges St-Pierre or Jon Jones.

My response to that is, as exciting as super-fights can be, they are also stupid and pretty unnecessary.

The idea of weight classes is that a fighter finds their ideal weight and competes within that division, so why should any fighter be forced out of their optimum weight class, just to prove a point to some fickle fans?

On top of that, Silva has said himself that he has no real interest in fighting outside the middleweight division anymore.

There's no reason that Silva should step outside his usual weight class in order to prove anything to anyone.

He's already the best of all-time.

He Is Getting Old

He might not look it, but Silva is 36 years old.

Most fighters peek around the age of 32 or 33, so it's incredible how dominant Silva still is.

That said, father time makes fool of us all, eventually.

It might be a good idea for Silva to retire before his body starts to let him down.

The Middleweight Division Will Be Interesting Again

Because of how dominant Silva has been, a lot of the fun has been sucked out of the middleweight division.

No one really cares who beats who because they're all eventually going to lose to Silva.

If Silva retires, there's no one in the division who has the potential to be as dominant as he was, and so we'll probably see the title changing hands much more often.

It would be nice for things in the middleweight division to be a little less certain.

How Often Do You Get the Chance to Go out on a Hight Note?

Picking the right time to retire is a tricky thing.

Often times, fighters are too attached to the sport to let go of it while they're still in good shape and they continue to compete much longer than they probably should.

It's always hard for fans to watch their favorite fighters slowly decline and eventually get to the point that they're being dominated every time they step in the cage.

Plus, fighters who stick around for too long usually just end up tarnishing their legacy.

If Anderson Silva we to retire today, right now, he would be going out as the best fighter on the planet, with his legacy perfectly in tact.

Andrew Barr is a Featured Columnist for Bleacherreport.com. For updates on what's happening in the world of MMA, follow him on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/AndrewBarr8