In a profanity-laden edition of Monday’s The MMA Hour, Anderson “The Spider” Silva made some bold claims.
The former middleweight champ took the opportunity to vent his frustrations with the UFC as well as some fighters. When asked what his feelings were on the upcoming Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre middleweight title fight, Silva stated: “This is bulls**t fight … F***ing bulls**t.”
You can understand “The Spider’s” frustration as a much-anticipated super-fight between Silva and GSP had long been discussed but never came to fruition. After the Brazilian agreed on a new long-term contract with the company back in 2014, “The Spider” stated yesterday that, “When I signed my last contract, Dana and Lorenzo say your first fight will be a super-fight with Georges St. Pierre.”
It’s clear that the former UFC champion has some grievances with the new regime. He also spoke of his reluctance to agree to the UFC/Reebok partnership, as he was previously endorsed by their competitor Nike but went on to say that he was a company guy and eventually accepted it.
After Silva’s scheduled fight against Kelvin Gastelum fell through, “The Spider” was left without an opponent for UFC 212 in Rio. When quizzed about a potential fight with Yoel Romero, Silva stated: “only for interim belt.” He then threatened retirement saying “The guys no give this fight for the interim belt, I’m done.”
Yoel Romero agrees to Anderson Silva fight on the MMA Hour
In a strange turn of events, halfway through Ariel Helwani‘s interview with Anderson on the MMA Hour, Romero phoned in. Romero has long been considered next in line for the middleweight strap. After defeating Chris Weidman, back at UFC 205, Joe Rogan even stated in the post-fight,in-cage interview that Yoel was next in line for the title. Much like Silva, Romero is equally frustrated with the current regime. After exchanging some pleasantries with Silva on The MMA Hour, Romero also confirmed: “I fight only with Anderson Silva for the interim belt, if not him, I wait for my time for the belt.”
With a fight seemingly agreed between the two, it is now up to the UFC to make this a reality. As the middleweight division is tied up waiting for GSP to confirm a date to challenge for the belt, an interim title fight makes perfect sense. Will Silva and Romero both get their wish? Or is this the last we see of the UFC legend?
UFC 212 takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 3.
