Confirmed: Anderson Silva signs new 10 fight deal with UFC

Signed, sealed, delivered.

It wasn't long ago that Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White revealed his Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, was offered an declined a new eight-fight contract with the promotion.

His reason for declining? "The Spider" wanted two fights added to the deal.

According to White after last night's (Dec. 29) UFC 155 event, that's exactly what they did, and Silva is now may be signed to the longest contract in UFC history (via MMA Weekly):

"Ten. He signed a 10-fight deal. I don't think we've ever done a 10-fight deal. Maybe we did one with Forrest once, I don't remember, but Anderson said, ‘I want a 10-fight deal, not an eight-fight deal.' I'll give him a 100-fight deal if he wants one."

We can't realistically expect the Brazilian to fulfill a contract like that, assuming it comes to be. He's 37-years-old right now, and he'll be 38 come April of next year. Assuming he maintains his current pace of fighting twice a year, that would mean competing until he's 43, not an impossible feat -- Randy Couture says "hi" -- but not one we can expect out of professional martial artists in today's super competitive landscape.

Then again, the Brazilian hasn't sustained a ton of damage throughout his career and has never once been knocked out. A decline is expected at some point but there's no telling when that will be.

Within the next 10 bouts? That's probably safe to say.

Either way, it almost feels like we should simply be grateful to watch the greatest of all time to continue to ply his craft inside the Octagon.