Anderson Silva is not impressed with the UFC
Anderson Silva: “And they pass, if you permit it, they will pass without mercy, forgetting all that you have conquered through honor and dedication.”
UFC G.O.A.T. Anderson Silva was supposed to fight Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212 on June 3, 2017 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Gastelum failed an in-competition recreational drug test and was pulled from the card. Then Silva went on The MMA Hour and said if the league didn’t give him an interim title shot vs. Yoel Romero, then he was retiring. That was declined.
It’s not that I’m pissy, because I won’t fight for the belt,” said Silva, as transcribed by MMAjunkie. “I had the belt for 10 years. Nothing in this sport is new to me. But, for my business, there’s no reason for me to take a fight with Romero that isn’t for the interim belt. There’s no reason.
I’m not an idiot, I’m not stupid. I want people to understand that, that they stop talking crap, because they don’t understand what happens behind the scenes in this sport.
To make matters even worse, he – ‘The Almighty’ – does the following: He brings in a guy who came out of retirement, who’s not from the division and gets him to fight for the belt. But how does he take a guy who’s coming out of retirement, who’s not in the division – he’s going to have an excuse for that, OK? I’m warning you – to fight for the belt with a guy who won a fight on the scorecards and lost another one via knockout?
With a guy who allegedly, in his last interview, said he’s ready to fight. And didn’t get him to fight with the No. 1 ranked guy, who’s Yoel Romero. The whole thing is bulls***.
I’m outraged, but I’m happy I’m ending a camp that wasn’t money thrown away. With people I’m always learning with, a lot of cool people. I’m happy, coming home happy. In a way, happier than if I had fought. We managed to make ‘The Almighty’ alert. He’s going to have to put Romero to fight, there are no excuses. He’s the No. 1 ranked, and Bisping said he’s ready to fight. There are no excuses. In a way, I helped a co-worker.
Silva thus withdrew himself from UFC 212, and is further voicing his displeasure with the league.
When you’re right, you have to go all the way, said Silva in an Instagram live stream as transcribed by Combate and translated by MMAjunkie. I’m sorry if this costs my leaving the UFC, retiring, being sidelined. (If) they want to mess with me, I don’t care. But what I’m doing is the right thing. It’s the right thing for me.
Silva expanded on the remarks in a message on his social network.
“To say yes when you want to say no is to give more value to others than to ourselves,” he wrote. “It is not to put your value in the right place, it is to impose no limits, and that is not to respect yourself. It is the same as saying that what we feel is not worth anything, that others can pass over you at will. And they pass, if you permit it, they will pass without mercy, forgetting all that you have conquered through honor and dedication. If we allow it will destroy our values. This is the way to say no.
“When I do not want something, I simply say no. With no anger or emotion. It is not just a negative. It’s our limit. A right that we have to decide what we want or do not do. It is a way to make people respect our value, this is the name of dignity. When we put ourselves sincerely, saying what we feel, we are respected. People like it or not.
“So if you know your worth, do not let anything destroy it nothing and no one. If you take a $100 and knead it, step on it, throw it on the floor and then dismantle, pick it up, ask someone how much it’s worth, smart people will respond that the note is worth $ 100, so no matter how much they step on you, how much they will knead you, your worth no one can change. . Thank you, my people. Kiss in the heart.”
What this means for Silva’s fighting going forward remains to be seen. He has a long-term contract with the UFC that, at 42, extends to the end of his career.