One of the most loyal and greatest soldiers of the UFC is none other than the former pound for pound kingpin Anderson Silva. But the oft-proclaimed ‘greatest of all time’ fighter seems to be disappointed with the lack of respect shown by the company for his contribution to their success.
Especially for stepping up to save an event on more than one occasion, with the latest being his valiant gut to fight Daniel Cormier at UFC 200. Jon Jones was originally scheduled to fight DC but was pulled out for testing positive for out-of-competition drug test conducted a month prior to the fight.
This was the third time Jones was scratched out of a fight against Cormier. Due to Jones’ unprofessionalism Cormier was set to lose a huge pay day but Silva stepped in to save his fight only 48 hours before the event. Silva now, stated that he wasn’t complimented enough for the hard work he had put into to make the event a success.
Silva was quoted as saying to the Brazilian UOL Esporte:
“I haven’t even received a ‘thank you’ from Dana (White), or Lorenzo (Fertitta) after the last fight. Of course, I was the one who wanted to fight, who took the bout, but I know my worth, my importance.”
“I was very disappointed with the lack of respect that the UFC has been treating the Brazilian athletes with. I’m an athlete who took the sport to another level. I don’t get, or have got, people’s due respect. This has made me very upset, sad, and disappointed with the UFC.”
“I will say it again: I’m very disappointed with the way they’ve been treating me, I’m very saddened by all of this,” he said. “I wasn’t the one who said I was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Dana White said it. Maybe he said it to promote his event, or because he really felt that way. We’ll never know the truth.”
“Fact is that everything I’ve done, no one else was able to do again. I don’t mean to be conceited, arrogant, think I’m the best, but what I set out to do this entire time was to show I was different than the others. And this is not my opinion, it’s everyone’s.”
It appears that the UFC is having a tough time dealing with its fighters who are publicly voicing their disappointment against their employer. Firstly Mark Hunt, then Jose Aldo, then Khabib Nurmagomedov and now Anderson Silva. We won’t be surprised if a fighters association is soon formed if this carries on to become a trend.
Jose Aldo and Anderson Silva share a bond of friendship, Silva out of respect, on one occasion had stated that he would have retired if Aldo and he were in the same division.
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