Silva ‘very, very, very disappointed’ with Lyoto and Jacare

The issue of team mates fighting is a contentious one in mixed martial arts. Former UFC middleweight champion will not fight a fellow Black House fighter. Silva in fact has indicated he won’t face a fellow Brazilian. However, his team mates Lyoto Machida and ‘Jacare’ Souza expressed contrary sentiments, saying they are professionals, and would fight “The Spider” if required to by the UFC.

Jacare is my friend, Lyoto is my friend, said Silva at Thursday’s UFC 183 media con call, as transcribed by Tom Ngo for 5thRound. But all the time, [the] guys don’t talk the same like me. When I go to talk to people for the media, I say, ‘I no go fight Lyoto because he’s my friend. I no go fight Jacare because he’s my friend.’ But when the guys go and talk to the media, Lyoto says, ‘I go fight Anderson because I go fight.’ Jacare says, ‘I go fight because I go fight, because I’m fighter.’

But my opinion, I don’t like the positions that Lyoto and Jacare [have taken], because I don’t go fight for these guys. Because I’m training for Lyoto [with] a long time, sometimes I train [with] Jacare.

Silva was asked bluntly if the remarks irked him, and he replied blunty.

Yeah, absolutely, he said Silva. Because when I go for training with the guys, I go to help you guys. I put 50 percent, 10 percent, [of] my energy for help the guys. When the guys talk like this, I’m very, very, very disappointed.

I think I need to talk this with the guys, because I talk all the time for the media. When you guys give me this question, I talk the same. Lyoto is my friend, Jacare trained together [with] me. And I don’t like to fight Brazilian guys. I don’t like it. This is my opinion. I understand this is a sport, the guys stay in the UFC for fights, but I don’t like to fight Brazilian guys.

Anderson Silva fights 209ian Nick Diaz in the main event of UFC 183 on Jan 31.