Anderson Silva is fed up with the UFC, that he vows retirement if he does not get an interim title fight against Yoel Romero.
Just five years ago, Anderson Silva was the UFC’s poster boy, as he held his six-year reign as the world middleweight champion. While he is still a big name these days, he is no longer on the company’s top priority list.
Late last year, “The Spider” expressed how he feels he got very little respect from the UFC after he stepped up with only 48 hours’ notice to replace Jon Jones and face Daniel Cormier at UFC 200. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, the 42-year-old future Hall-of-Famer drew the line, saying if he is not granted an interim title fight against Yoel Romero at UFC 212 on June 3rd, he will walk away from fighting for good.
“The guys (UFC) no give this fight for me for the interim belt, I’m done. I’ll go be with my family. I’m done,” Silva said (transcript via MMA Fighting).
“This is perfect bullsh-t. I’m tired. I’m so tired. I’m respectful long time. Everything, I never talk about bad situations in UFC. … I think I’m done. I fight for long time in my life. And I’m tired, bro. I’m so upset.
“I have my legacy, I have my story,” Silva continued. “It’s very frustrating, because this is the second time I’m not fighting in my country.”
Silva was originally slated to face Kelvin Gastelum on the same card, only for it to be cancelled after the TUF 17 winner tested positive for marijuana. What concerns him now is the fact that he has spent money for training camp in preparation for Gastelum, as well as the disappointment that he feels his fans are experiencing because of the cancellation.
“I stayed here for a long time for training. This is not my fault for Gastelum to go out of the fight. This is not my problem,” Silva said. “My problem is training hard for fight in Brazil for my fans. What happens to my fans now? What happens to the people who paid to see my fight in Brazil. This is the second time this happened. I’m tired of this.”
For his part, Romero also says he is only willing to face Silva for the interim title, if he does become a part of the UFC 212 card.
“I fight only with Anderson for the interim belt,” Romero said, who called in in the middle of Silva’s interview. “If not for him, I wait for my time for the belt.”
UFC 212 will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
