Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s next opponent, Jake Paul, has made a habit of blasting the UFC. Although Silva left the organization two years ago, he has plenty of perspective on how they like to run their business, and revealed on The MMA Hour what his one “problem” is with UFC president Dana White.
“It’s strange for me, because everybody signs and when inside they start talking, ‘You guys don’t pay me correct,’ and this and that.
Anderson Silva’s One “Problem” With Dana White
I never, in my life, talked about how much the UFC paid me because I fight a lot and that’s my problem with Dana. It’s not a problem, it’s a business, Anderson Silva is a company going inside the UFC and signing the contract. It’s two companies making business together.
My problem with Dana is [when he] talks about fights because Dana has never fought MMA in his life. That’s my problem, when he talks about, ‘You can’t do that, can’t do that, you don’t fight correctly.’
That’s my only problem with Dana. I think Dana is a good person. Everybody talks about Dana, ‘He’s not good, blah blah blah.’ He’s a good person, but he’s a businessman. UFC doesn’t get to this point now as a big, big company in the world if the people think, ‘I did something, I’m sorry fighters, I did something incorrect.’
No, the company grew up because of hustlers doing something and that’s the game. You’re inside or not. You can sign or not sign, you can go anywhere, but when you sign, you make the deal with my company.
You can’t say nothing because why did you sign? You signed. You have a contract. ‘Oh no, let me out of the contract.’ You signed the contract, you’ve seen the rules of the contract, why are you talking about it now? And I’m so lucky because I’m not in the UFC anymore and I have my own journey right now.
I don’t need to say, ‘Can I do that?’ I don’t need to ask permission from the UFC or from Dana for absolutely nothing anymore.”
Anderson Silva has boxed twice since his last UFC appearance, first defeating former WBC champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June 2021, then needing less than a round to knock out fellow UFC veteran Tito Ortiz.
He’ll hope to continue his winning streak against Jake Paul when the pair face off in Arizona on October 29. What do you think of Anderson Silva’s problem with Dana White? Let us know in the comments.
