There’s always someone that tries to come between a love fest, and MMA is no different. Israel Adesanya and Anderson Silva have been overtly respectful and complimentary of one another, but Israel Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman is not trying to hear that noise (Transcript via MMA Fighting)
“He’s the Lance Armstrong of MMA,” Bareman told Submission Radio in a recent interview. “For me, he cheated. And I’m a very stand-up guy. MMA fans, for one or another reasons, they’re not the same as cycling fans. MMA fans forget quickly when someone cheats. But I’m not like that. If you do something wrong and it’s proven and factual, then I hold that against him about it. I don’t hold it against you like I wanna beat you up, I just want nothing to do with you.”
Earlier this week, Dana White assured that Anderson Silva will be in the Hall of Fame when his career is over and left no doubt about that. And to this day, Siva remains in GOAT conversations. Even if Anderson Silva doesn’t get the nod for GOAT, you can usually find the conversation’s participants find a spot for Silva in the pantheon. Not so much for Eugene Bareman. For Bareman, Silva does not sit at #1, #2, the top 5, or even the top 10:
“He sits nowhere, as far as I’m concerned,” said Bareman. “He sits the same place as Lance Armstrong sits, but it’s a difference sport, different community. I completely dismiss him. I find it – I think weird is the best way to describe it – I find it weird that people talk of him in that manner. You can’t cheat in this sport, or else it brings everything you did into complete disrepute, like Lance Armstrong. How are two people who are basically guilty of the same thing treated so differently in the sporting world. Well, it’s because of the different responses that each of those fanbases give to that crime.”
Do you agree with Eugene Bareman? Is Anderson Silva the Lance Armstrong of MMA?
