- Dana White insists he “never” talked bad about Anderson Silva following the latter’s recent rant
- The UFC president said he can’t understand where Silva is coming from
Anderson Silva generated quite a buzz recently after he threw shade at the UFC, stating that his former employer treated him with “no respect,” and that it would only “use you and kick you out” when the glory days are over.
The media pinned down UFC president Dana White for comments and as expected, the 52-year-old addressed the issue head-on.
White’s response
In his UFC 274 post-fight news conference, White exclaimed that he has no idea about what Silva was pertaining to in his statement. According to the UFC head honcho, he never bad-mouthed anybody, especially “The Spider” except from when he got “embarrassed” by Silva’s fight with Demian Maia in Abu Dhabi more than a decade ago.
“What the f*ck is Anderson Silva talking about?” White questioned via MMA Junkie. “When have any of you ever heard me talk negatively, except for the fight in Abu Dhabi, about Anderson Silva? Never. I’ve never talked bad about Anderson Silva.”
The boss is baffled
White further stressed that despite Silva’s ugly losing streak towards the end of his UFC spell, he was always nice to the Brazilian. Therefore, he can’t comprehend where this whole tirade is coming from.
“Not only that, we let the guy fight through his contract,” the executive added of Silva. “He lost seven of his last eight, or eight of his last nine fights. Always treated him with … I don’t know where the hell this is coming from.
“From him, that then I started trying to make it so he couldn’t make money after,” he continued. “I said Jake Paul’s looking to fight somebody; fight Anderson Silva. That guy’s out there. He’s available. And he’s 47 years old. It baffles me.”
Looking back, Silva held the middleweight strap from 2006 to 2013 when he lost his belt to Chris Weidman. He then injured his leg in the rematch and had his decision win over Nick Diaz in 2015 overturned by NSAC to a no contest. Since then, “The Spider” only won one of his last six fights under the UFC banner before being cut by the promotion in 2020.
