Ex-UFC champion Anderson Silva: 'You can be sure it's not over yet'

We still don’t know when Anderson Silva will fight again, but it appears that it will happen eventually.

Silva hasn’t fought since February 2017, when a decision victory over Derek Brunson snapped a winless skid that dated back to October 2012. “The Spider” was scheduled to fight Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night 122 in November (already a rescheduling of an original UFC 212 appointment), but he got pulled after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) flagged him for a potential doping violation.

Silva is still entitled to due process and, therefore, it’s still unknown what that will mean in terms of sanctions. But at 43, the UFC’s former middleweight kingpin took to Instagram this Sunday to let his fans – and haters alike, it seems – know that he will be back.

“You can be sure it’s not over yet,” Silva wrote. “My love and my passion for the fight are here, firm and strong. The fight continues. I’ll stop when God thinks I can’t do it anymore. So who is my fan, you can be sure I will be back soon. For the joy of those who cheer for me and the sadness of those who don’t.”

Here’s the post: (via Instagram)

Quando olho esta foto, percebo o quanto Deus me fortalece sempre me dando luz na minha caminhada. Em uma longa viagem, lembranças fantásticas do tempo em que brincava nas ruas do bairro onde cresci em Curitiba. Tudo que passei, tudo que consegui construir com força de vontade, com determinação e muita honra. Tive o previlégio de colocar o brasão do meu time do coração, de uma certa forma, dar um título mundial pra ele e principalmente, pro meu povo. Só tenho a agradecer a todos vocês por tudo, digo de coração, amo vocês todos que sempre estão me dando forças. Beijo! Amo vocês de verdade, força e honra a todos, independente de time, cor, raça, religião e opção sexual, somos todos irmãos. Obrigado meu povo! Podem ter certeza que ainda não acabou. Meu amor e minha paixão pela luta estão aqui, firmes e fortes. A luta continua, vou parar quando DEUS achar que não dá mais. Então quem é meu fã, pode ter certeza, que logo estou de volta, pra alegria dos que torcem por mim e pra tristeza dos que não kkkkkk beijo . When I look at this photo, I realize how much God strengthens me by always giving me light in my walk. On a long trip, fantastic memories of the time I played in the streets of the neighborhood where I grew up in Curitiba. Everything I've been through, everything I've built with willpower, determination and great honor. I had the privilege of putting the coat of my heart team, in a way, to give a world title to him and especially to my people. I just have to thank you all for everything, I say from my heart, I love you all who are always giving me strength. Kiss! I really love you, strength and honor to all, regardless of team, color, race, religion and sexual choice, we are all brothers. Thank you, my people! You can be sure it's not over yet. My love and my passion for the fight are here, firm and strong. The fight continues, I will stop when GOD thinks I can not do it anymore. So who is my fan, can be sure, that soon I'm back, to the joy of those who cheer for me and to the sadness of those who don’t kkkkkk kiss

A post shared by Anderson "The Spider" Silva (@spiderandersonsilva) on Jan 7, 2018 at 6:06am PST

“When I look at this photo, I realize how much God strengthens me by always giving me light in my walk. On a long trip, fantastic memories of the time I played in the streets of the neighborhood where I grew up in Curitiba. Everything I’ve been through, everything I’ve built with willpower, determination and great honor. I had the privilege of putting the coat of my heart team, in a way, to give a world title to him and especially to my people. I just have to thank you all for everything, I say from my heart, I love you all who are always giving me strength. Kiss! I really love you, strength and honor to all, regardless of team, color, race, religion and sexual choice, we are all brothers. Thank you, my people! You can be sure it’s not over yet. My love and my passion for the fight are here, firm and strong. The fight continues, I will stop when GOD thinks I can not do it anymore. So who is my fan, can be sure, that soon I’m back, to the joy of those who cheer for me and to the sadness of those who don’t kkkkkk”

Silva (34-8 MMA, 17-4), who’s wearing a jersey of soccer team Corinthians in the picture, has previously used social media to address the situation, saying he was “working very closely with USADA” to find out what had happened.

More recently, his strength and conditioning coach, Rogerio Camoes, publicly affirmed his belief in Silva’s innocence and said the team was working with the possibility of a tainted supplement.

Camoes, however, also said they were prepared to deal with a suspension – considering that, even if contamination was proven, it’s still the athlete’s responsibility to watch what he consumes. But the coach also said he believed Silva would return.

“I think in life, when something is taken from you, you start wanting and valuing it more,” Camoes said. “He’s always saying, ‘I want to fight.’ The thing he wants the most is to fight. So I think he will go back to fighting. I find it unlikely that he won’t fight again.”

Silva is potentially a repeat offender. In January 2015, before the UFC had partnered with USADA, the ex-champ failed a drug test conducted around the time of his UFC 183 meeting with Nick Diaz. His win was overturned and Silva was fined and sidelined for a year. He blamed a tainted sexual enhancer for the failed test.

Silva’s two-decade-long career remains one of the most decorated in MMA history. Although 125-pound champ Demetrious Johnson has recently snapped his long-standing record of consecutive title defenses in the octagon, Silva still sits at second place with 10. The possibility of a second failed test, however, has some questioning what that will mean for his legacy.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, visit the UFC Rumors section of the site.