Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White knows he has a disgruntled legend to deal with.
Anderson Silva has not been happy with the UFC as of late. When Kelvin Gastelum was pulled from UFC 212, a replacement opponent for Silva was underway. “The Spider” demanded that he got an interim title opportunity. When White denied the request, Silva removed himself from the card and said he was “done.”
During a recent appearance on “The Jim Rome Show,” White admitted that Silva has never taken things to this extreme (via MMAJunkie.com):
“I have to deal with tons of different personalities and egos and lots of different things with all of the athletes that I deal with. Anderson Silva has always been one of those guys that’s been unique to deal with – (but) never at this level. I didn’t make Kelvin Gastelum test positive for marijuana and pull out of the fight, and we tried to make other fights and get other opponents for him.”
White went on to say that a face-to-face meeting with Silva is ideal.
“You can’t demand a title fight or (threaten), ‘I’m going to retire.’ Especially when you know that my philosophy is this: If you even mention the word ‘retirement,’ you should probably retire. I know he’s not thrilled and happy with me. He and I need to sit down and do a face-to-face.”
