Anderson Silva has proven Dana White right. The former UFC middleweight champion has hit back at claims made by the UFC CEO about how they ended their relationship. ‘The Spider’ reacted to White’s claims on Instagram, sharing a lengthy message for his former boss.
“All that [several laughing emojis],” Silva wrote. “The bald guy saying s—t —I’ve been out of the organization for many years already, but apparently neither the current fighters nor the bald guy can forget my accomplishments.
“Deep down, the bald guy knows that with me there was no whining, everyone went in to throw down, and I saved the event more than once. And just so it’s on record, the bald guy apparently doesn’t know how to count.”
The UFC Hall of Famer lost seven of his final nine fights in the promotion. His last MMA fight came in November 2020 when he suffered a fourth-round knockout loss to Uriah Hall. Since then, ‘The Spider’ has transitioned to boxing, where he scored wins over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Tyron Woodley. His sole loss in boxing came against Jake Paul.
In any case, Silva’s reaction came after Dana White appeared in an interview with Rolling Stone, where he revealed what happened between him and Anderson Silva before they parted ways.
“Anderson Silva, he was always a unique individual to deal with, but he lost like 8 or 9 or 10 in a row, something like that,” White said. “That guy won’t talk to me to this day. Because I said it’s over and he was in his 40s. His thing was ‘who are you to tell me that I’m done doing what I love to do?’ [I told him] it’s over.
“Obviously, they can go fight [somewhere else], and he did. He went and fought a boxing match, and he fought a bunch of other fights. He can still fight. You just can’t do it here.”
Clearly, Silva wasn’t pleased with White’s recollection of his record during the final stretch of his UFC career, and he was quick to correct him. Still, regardless of Silva’s disagreement, his performances inside the cage didn’t reflect the relentless fighting spirit that once defined him as his career began to decline.
Now 51, Silva is training to become a police officer and has previously admitted that he no longer has the desire to continue competing in MMA. While he has hinted that he may still have a couple of fights left in him, those appearances would likely come in the boxing ring rather than inside the Octagon.
In the meantime, Anderson Silva has been made the target of disrespect from someone else entirely.
Sean Strickland claims he could dominate a prime Anderson Silva
It’s no secret that Silva is considered one of the greatest middleweights in UFC history. However, that doesn’t appear to affect Sean Strickland’s assessment of a hypothetical fight between them. Sean Strickland believes he would have no problem defeating a prime Anderson Silva.
“I’d f— him up,” Strickland said during a livestream appearance with Nina Drama at Adin Ross’ Brand Risk Promotions event.
‘Tarzan’ is coming off a split-decision victory over Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 to become a two-time middleweight champion. But does becoming champion alone mean he could beat one of the best to ever do it? The American later clarified that his confidence comes from how much mixed martial arts has evolved over the years.
“There’s a big level difference now,” Strickland said. “Every generation gets better and better. So it’s kind of hard to say, ‘Would I beat this guy up?’ Well, yeah, naturally the sport is getting better.”
Anderson Silva might not compete in MMA anymore, but the sport and the people within it clearly haven’t forgotten him. Do you agree with White’s decision to push Silva out of the sport?
