MELBOURNE, Australia -- The cageside microphones picked them up, clear as day. Six words from Anderson Silva to Israel Adesanya that were enough to make a fight fan cry. "I pass the baton to you." UFC 234 did not mark the end of Silva's career, but there was a sense of finality to it all the same. A 43-year-old legend fought a 29-year-old version of himself on Sunday, and after losing via unanimous decision, Silva gave him his blessing, in the end, to chase greatness. It was beautiful, honestly. It was an honor for Adesanya, and he treated it as such. His path moving forward is set. He immediately turned his sights to a UFC title shot and defending champ Robert Whittaker. Adesanya has accepted the baton, and he's running with it. Now, how about the man who passed it off? As impressive as Silva was on Sunday -- considering his age and the two-year layoff he returned from -- there is a fine line in MMA between a perfect "passing of the torch" and a difficult-to-watch beatdown of an aging legend. For Silva, this fight represents that crossroads. He did not look out of his element at all against the dangerous, undefeated Adesanya, but Silva is now, officially, 1-5 in his past seven bouts (including a no contest) -- and he was never really close to winning this one. Israel Adesanya, right, and Anderson Silva exchange strikes in their middleweight bout during UFC 234. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images Silva's bag of tricks -- dropping his hands to his waist, urging an opponent to meet him along the fence, smiling and taunting another man after he connects on the feet -- is still there, but the devastating knockouts that used to follow aren't. It has been more than six years since Silva finished a fight. His reflexes are, naturally, slowing down. He is one of the smartest fighters the world has ever seen, and for that reason alone he is very good at protecting himself. But eventually, even that won't be enough. The point here is not that Silva should retire, but correct matchmaking will be so crucial during whatever career he has left. Following Sunday's loss, he told ESPN he has "three or four" fights left on his contract and that maybe he will retire once that contract is finished. If that is the case, I hope those "three or four" matchups are against opponents that make sense. Because most fights that end with the passing of a baton don't look like the one we saw at UFC 234. They end violently and suddenly. It's rare to see a baton gingerly pass from one hand to another. It often is wrenched away in lopsided fashion. In other words, this is the last time I want to see Silva fight a young gun, with the promise of a title shot if it goes his way. That chapter of his story is now written. And it was perfect.<doc-sep>The student defeated the master on Sunday afternoon at UFC 234. In a captivating and wildly creative contest, Israel Adesanya defeated former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva via unanimous decision in Melbourne, Australia, emerging victorious from the eleventh hour main event of UFC 234. Check out reaction to Adesanya’s memorable win below, plus the best of the rest from UFC 234’s pay-per-view card. ISRAEL ADESANYA DEF. ANDERSON SILVA Aljos about to tweet that he wants matrix shit — A1 Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) February 10, 2019 I’m not saying he’s gonna win, but I would LOVE if Anderson Silva came out and did some vintage “Spider” matrix shit!#UFC234 — Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) February 10, 2019 I hope Anderson doesn’t do that Thai clinch where he lets his opponent punch him like 10 times for no reason — Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) February 10, 2019 Wow. The wait is over!! This was my main event in the first place !! #UFCMelbourne — JIMI MANUWA (@POSTERBOYJM) February 10, 2019 Anderson just letting Israel punch him. #Ufc234 — The Mane Event™ (@EliasTheodorou) February 10, 2019 Treating a career-defining main event opportunity like a sparring match feels like a bad idea. #UFC234 — Sean O'Connell (@realOCsports) February 10, 2019 I like it — GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) February 10, 2019 Great fight! The young the old. Very similar — Chito Vera (@chitoveraUFC) February 10, 2019 I want this fight to go on forever, I don't want either guy to lose, I just want to watch forever #UFC234 — Leslie Smith (@LeslieSmith_GF) February 10, 2019 No matter how this fight ends @SpiderAnderson is the man #UFC234 — Jordan Johnson (@doublejmma) February 10, 2019 I keep catching myself holding my breath during this fight. Anderson still has that effect on me after all these years. #ufc234 — Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) February 10, 2019 True story: I was just so pumped watching Silva do that crazy hand work that I tried it myself, and poked myself in the eye! — Chas Skelly (@ChasSkelly) February 10, 2019 Nice one herb for checking on mouthpieces in an Anderson fight — michael (@bisping) February 10, 2019 We cannot ignore the fact that @chrishemsworth was just fan-boying cageside with an actual point and shoot camera, NOT a phone camera. #UFC234 — Sean O'Connell (@realOCsports) February 10, 2019 Always fun watch @SpiderAnderson compete, Adrenalin pumping everytime he fights. — Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) February 10, 2019 The Chris finish twice just saying — A1 Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) February 10, 2019 Anderson is still the man! 43 yrs young! #UFCMelbourne — James Vick (@JamesVickMMA) February 10, 2019 That was awesome! — Chas Skelly (@ChasSkelly) February 10, 2019 This fucking pussy Can’t wait to be back!!!!! — Marvin Vettori (@MarvinVettori) February 10, 2019 Good way for Anderson to go out right there. If that’s the plan. Legend of the sport. #ufc234 — Scott Holtzman (@HotSauceHoltzy) February 10, 2019 Wish that fight was 5 rounds! Really enjoyed that striking chess match #UFC234 — Shane Burgos (@HurricaneShaneB) February 10, 2019 I’ll always buy an Anderson Silva fight the best to ever do it — Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) February 10, 2019 Anderson is one crafty, crafty Martial Artist. You only develop these methods through years of hard fought experience. Phenomenal performance. The crafty veteran. Big respect always. It would be an honor! — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) February 10, 2019 LANDO VANNATA DEF. MARCOS MARIANO So this Marco dude is straight up @SpiderAnderson at lightweight — Erik Jon Koch (@NEWBREED04) February 10, 2019 Just how many Anderson Silva clones did the UFC make ? @marcosmarianomma looks like Spider-lite #UFC234 — Sean O'Connell (@realOCsports) February 10, 2019 For a sec there I thought Anderson Silva dropped down to lightweight or Groovy went up to middle #UFCMelbourne — Jon SuperSaiyan Tuck (@JonCruzTuck) February 10, 2019 Pure dominance by lando #ufc234 — Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) February 10, 2019 That dude was 6-4 no way he should have been fighting in the ufc let alone lando ! — Jarred Brooks (@The_monkeygod) February 10, 2019 Pretty close to perfect performance from @GroovyLando . Not many kimura finishes in Mma. So nice #ufc234 — Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) February 10, 2019 That was a solid performance by @GroovyLando — Brandon Gibson (@SixGunGibson) February 10, 2019 RICKY SIMON DEF. RANI YAHYA That mullet is on point!! — James Vick (@JamesVickMMA) February 10, 2019 Remove that stat or I’m coming to Australia — A1 Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) February 10, 2019 What’s joe dirt doing in the octagon? — michael (@bisping) February 10, 2019 The shoulder-check takedown is gangster. I like Ricky Simon #UFC234 — Sean O'Connell (@realOCsports) February 10, 2019 Simon says If you cut up some avocados and chop up some tomatoes you can make some guacamullet — Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) February 10, 2019 Simon did such a great job of being aggressive but disciplined and not allowing himself to get drawn into Yahya’s game. I liked that fight a lot #ufc234 — Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) February 10, 2019 Moral of the story.. never bet against a man with a World class mullet.. — James Vick (@JamesVickMMA) February 10, 2019 MONTANA DE LA ROSA DEF. NADIA KASSEM Kassem stayed alive in some terrible, locked in positions and subs, but finally has to tap, after being literally smothered for minutes by Montana. #ufc234 pic.twitter.com/za0iSM5Nfv — The Mane Event™ (@EliasTheodorou) February 10, 2019 Great finish by Montana . Mounted triangle , elbows, arm bar. Back and forth until finally got the tap #ufc234 — Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) February 10, 2019 That was fun. When can we do that again? What do they say these days... Who wants that smoke ?! @paigevanzant #ufc #ufc234 pic.twitter.com/6gqUsxGLos — Montana De La Rosa (@montanamarie211) February 10, 2019 JIMMY CRUTE DEF. SAM ALVEY Sam is not smiling for the first time in his career. Damn. #ufc234 — Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) February 10, 2019 This is gonna be an unpopular opinion, but I gotta say...I understand what Sam was saying there. None of those shots got through. Fight prolly should have been stopped when he was dropped tho. — Chas Skelly (@ChasSkelly) February 10, 2019 Horrifically bad stoppage. This card is already compromised. Hate seeing that. #UFC234 — Sean O'Connell (@realOCsports) February 10, 2019 Sam got dropped and was being pounded on while he was turtled up. Sam wasn't defending himself properly, but he wasn't out either and looked to have recovered a bit. #ufc234 pic.twitter.com/xouXHIayb4 — The Mane Event™ (@EliasTheodorou) February 10, 2019 No smiles for alvey — Chito Vera (@chitoveraUFC) February 10, 2019<doc-sep>UFC 234 exceeded expectations. Which is mostly to say that it wasn’t the worst PPV card the promotion has ever put together. A lot of lopsided matchmaking made for some quick finishes, and Anderson Silva put together one of his best performances in a long time, to lose a well contested 3-round bout to a seemingly somewhat star-struck Israel Adesanya. Still not good, but a lot better than it could have been. Unfortunately, it’s still not a card that left viewers with a lot of easy answers or clear next moves. Did failing to finish a 43-year-old Silva diminish Adesanya’s hype? Is there a sensible next opponent for Anderson lurking on the UFC roster? Does anyone know who Jimmy Crute is yet? To answer these questions – and not much more – I’ll be using the classic Silva/Shelby fight booking methodology of years past. That means pitting winners against winners, losers against losers, and similarly tenured talent against one another. If you’d like to take your own shot at some matchmaking glory, leave a comment below starting with, “Kelvin, put that belt down,” and I’ll pick one response to join me next time. This week’s winner is BE reader John aka ‘tebowned’: I’m John; 27-year old-male. A former child-hobo, high school drop-out, husband, and father of two beautiful girls. I work for an IT company in Boise, Idaho and I’m a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Been watching MMA for 15ish years and fought a few amateur fights as a teenager. I love MMA and Georges St. Pierre is the GOAT. ISRAEL ADESANYA John - The Last Stylebender just beat the middleweight GOAT, Anderson Silva, by clear unanimous decision. Adesanya definitely has that “IT” factor but I’d like to see him fight at least once more before challenging for a title. Assuming they re-book Whittaker vs Gastelum fairly soon, lets have Stylebender take another a top 5 opponent as the co-main event. At the press conference it sounds like he wants to wait for the title shot but admitted he gets “Itchy Knuckles.” Jacare is coming off a huge win over Chris Weidman. Book Stylebender vs Jacare Souza as your number 1 contender’s fight. Side note: Last year before UFC Boise I said hi to Stylebender while he was strolling down the streets of Boise, Idaho by himself. I was a bit star struck. Zane - Really the only middleweight fight I don’t want to see Adesanya in right now is against Yoel Romero. Not because it wouldn’t be fun as hell or because it may not be competitive, it could be both. But, if Romero doesn’t have a clear path back to Whittaker, him stomping rising contenders at 185 doesn’t make that much sense. Otherwise, fights with Jacare, Rockhold, Costa (should he beat Romero), or Gastelum all make sense. If Whittaker is going to be out for a while, then book Adesanya vs. Gastelum. If Whittaker’s return is going to be as fast as everyone hopes, then go ahead and try Adesanya vs. Jacare. It’d be a lot of fun and the best test yet of Adesanya’s defensive wrestling and grappling skills. ANDERSON SILVA John - Wow. The Spider was surprisingly competitive against Adesanya and his stock didn’t take a hit in my eyes. At the ripe age of 43, let’s give him a master’s division fight in his hometown of Curitiba. There’s really no one I wanna see him against in the middleweight Top 15, or against Conor McGregor, and I don’t wanna see the Nick Diaz rematch. Hear me out as it’s a little out of the box, Anderson Silva vs Shogun Rua at light heavyweight. There’s the Chute Boxe connection, Rua had a rivalry with Blackhouse’s Lyoto Machida and Lil’ Nog, and they’re both from Curitiba, Brazil. Anderson Silva vs Mauricio Rua at UFC 237 in Curitiba. Zane - If Silva takes on another middleweight, interesting fights for him are thin on the ground. The only two I can see that would spark any of my interest would be Luke Rockhold and Uriah Hall. Rockhold’s struggles have raised some solid questions about his competitive striking at an elite level, and Hall has always been an extremely hot and cold exciting talent. But, in either case I’d be watching through my fingers. I like the idea of a Shogun fight – in theory – but Silva said years ago that he didn’t really want to fight other Brazilian fighters, and I have to think that would carry especially for a fight in front of Brazilian fans. I know it’s not a step away from danger, but honestly Gokhan Saki is wasted fighting dudes like Saparbek Safarov. Whether he wins or loses that fight, why not look at a fight between him and Silva. Maybe Jimi Manuwa? Or maybe, just maybe, that eternally elusive GSP fight. LANDO VANNATA John - It’s safe to say this was setup to get Lando back in the win column after re-signing him. The plan went through, as Lando got to show off his grappling by applying a Kimura against the seemingly defenseless Mariano. Recent bias but I wanna see him take on Devonte Smith. That could be a fun striking battle on ESPN to lead into a PPV. Please book Lando Vannata vs Davonte Smith. Zane - Vannata is back on the horse, and if he’s going to keep getting the Mike Perry action fighter treatment, every win likely means a much much tougher fight next time out. Maybe Charles Oliveira, or Francisco Trinaldo, or Gregor Gillespie... But hopefully not. Vannata called out Jim Miller and that would actually be a good quality booking. Miller is both a name action talent that can challenge Vannata everywhere, and someone who has had just as much trouble finding wins lately. But, lightweight is deep and there’s not a ton of reason to go winner/loser if I don’t have to. Gilbert Burns got a strong win over Olivier Aubin-Mercier recently and would be a solid next fight — as would Joaquim Silva or Davi Ramos. Since Burns is the most kill-or-be-killed fighter of any of those options I’ll go with him. Vannata vs. Burns would be a quality action battle. RICKY SIMON John - I’m pretty high on the likely-ranked Ricky Simon. We needed another mullet in the UFC after Mike Pyle retired. Once he gets more experience, works on his striking, and pacing, he’ll be a contender. If the UFC gives him another step up, I’d love to see him against a striker. Alejandro Perez is a tough volume striker with decent takedown defense on a 7 fight unbeaten streak. Ricky Simon vs Alejandro Perez will make a good bantamweight scrap. Zane - I would be 100% down with Simon vs. Perez, but unfortunately Perez is booked against Cody Stamann right now. The winner of that bout, however, would definitely be a good next opponent if Simon wants to wait that long. Assuming that he doesn’t want to wait, then there is one super clear next fight for Ricky to take: Rob Font. Font is coming of a nice – if not spectacular – win over Sergio Pettis, and has established himself as a decent borderline-elite threat at 135. If Simon can go out and put the screws to him for a win, then he really is on his way to contention. If he can’t, then that’s likely a setback he needs to face now, in a division full of power punching threats. Simon vs. Font is the fight the UFC needs to make. JIM CRUTE John - I feel Jim Crute’s stoppage of Alvey was warranted, though on the early side. At just 22 years old in a thin division, let’s build the Aussie up and give him a slightly ‘easier’ route than Tyson Pedro. Let’s re-book Crute against Ryan Spann if he’s not out for too long. Jim “The Brute” Crute vs Ryan “Superman” Spann. Zane - Whatever controversy you want to put on the stoppage, this was a great win for Jim Crute, and easily the most notable of his career so far.<doc-sep>
Israel Adesanya punches Anderson Silva during their middleweight bout during UFC 234 at Rod Laver Arena on Feb. 10, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Getty Images) The blazing hands and the remarkable reflexes that led Anderson Silva to become the greatest fighter in the world at his peak are long gone. He’d once see the tiniest of openings and would hit the mark time and time again. He may never again climb the top of the mountain in mixed martial arts, but even at 43, few are better. Silva gave as good as he got in a 15-minute battle with unbeaten wunderkind Israel Adesanya that unexpectedly became the main event of UFC 234 Saturday at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, when middleweight champion Rob Whittaker was forced to undergo emergency surgery in the middle of the night. The Silva-Adesanya showdown was set to be a showcase for Adesanya, a star on the rise who has taken MMA by storm in his year in the UFC. While Adesanya captured a unanimous decision by scores of 30-27 twice and 29-28, it was a competitive bout from start to finish and Adesanya wasn’t able to blow Silva out of the water like many expected. “This is like if I played basketball and I played Michael Jordan,” Adesanya said in tribute to Silva following the bout. “Well, this is it for me.” The respect Adesanya had for Silva was evident from the moment the fight began. When it ended, both moved to the center of the ring and went to their knees and bowed their heads in a show of respect. Silva’s performance in his first fight in two years was enough to impress even former two-division champion Conor McGregor, who took to Twitter to rave about Silva and intimate he’d be interested in fighting him. Silva said after the bout he hopes to fight at UFC 237 in May in Curitiba, Brazil, and McGregor has repeatedly said he hopes to fight in Brazil one day. “Anderson is one crafty, crafty martial artist,” McGregor wrote. “You only develop these methods through years of hard fought experience. Phenomenal performance. The crafty veteran. Big respect always. It would be an honor.” A Silva-McGregor fight is highly unlikely to happen, though. UFC president Dana White has endorsed a potential summer match with Donald Cerrone, but at the postfight news conference said of a Silva-McGregor fight, “I don’t like that fight at all.” Story continues The bout was essentially a kickboxing match with four-ounce gloves. Adesanya had the faster hands and was consistently getting home, though he wasn’t punching in combination. Silva waited patiently for opportunities to counter, but he wasn’t able to return to his glory days when he won 16 bouts in a row and was unbeaten for nearly a decade. By the third round, Silva’s right eye was swelling but he never was out of the fight. Adesanya showed great respect for Silva’s counters and never fully opened up. The bout became the main event due to bizarre circumstances. After Whittaker and challenger Kelvin Gastelum successfully made weight Friday, Whittaker began having abdominal pains. He eventually had emergency surgery at 3 a.m. for a hernia and a collapsed bowel. In a statement posted on Facebook, a member of his team wrote, “Last night at roughly 9 p.m., Rob began experiencing intense abdominal pains that were brought to the attention of the UFC doctors. After several hours of observation he was admitted to the hospital at 3 a.m. Rob is just out of dual surgery for a twisted and collapsed bowel in addition an internal hernia of the intestine and will be recovering in the hospital for several days.” More from Yahoo Sports: • Bumgarner ‘walking right out’ if Giants use an opener • Zion draws comparisons to LeBron in win at Virginia • Forde: 5 takeaways from NCAA tourney seeding reveal