10 fighters who feuded with the UFC

#4 Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei Silva was sued by the UFC after claiming they fixed fights

Just a handful of years ago, it felt like Wanderlei Silva would become one of the UFC’s golden boys who would probably stick around for the long haul, like his countryman Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira or Forrest Griffin. A fan favourite for years, Silva had come over to the UFC from PRIDE in 2007 and despite a so-so Octagon record, he was given plenty of promotion by the UFC, including numerous main events and two stints as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.

It was during his second coaching stint that things went horribly wrong. During the build for a fight between Silva and bitter rival Chael Sonnen in mid-2014, ‘The Axe Murderer’ decided to run from drug testers who showed up at his gym looking to administer a random test. Due to this infraction, Silva was hit with a stunning lifetime ban by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The Brazilian then demanded that the UFC release him from his contract – allowing him to pursue fights outside of NSAC jurisdiction – but when the promotion refused, Silva went on a wild Facebook rant in the summer of 2015, accusing the UFC of robbing their athletes and fixing fights.

The UFC were understandably furious, and immediately hit Silva with a lawsuit for defamation, stating he’d committed “intentional misconduct”. Thankfully, before the whole deal went to court, both parties smoothed things out; Silva apologised for his comments, and the UFC dropped the lawsuit and agreed to release him, allowing him to sign with rival promotion Bellator.

Despite the lawsuit being dropped though, the former PRIDE champion remains persona non grata with the UFC – and it’s unlikely that will change any time soon.