The following are highlights of a new Submission Radio interview with Wanderlei Silva:
On when Wanderlei Silva started thinking about retiring “I started a couple of months ago, because I looked at the way the sport goes right now and how the owner of the events treats the guys, how the guys are talking about the guys, how the guys fighting the guys, next some guy retired, this other guy is a kid. Man, I look at that and I can’t fight these guys anymore.”
On his body not responding to training “The truth is I am one of the most extreme fighters and I hurt my body a lot of times, and some injuries I made good, some injuries I made to still train, but at that time I talked to the guys (UFC) if I can fight during December and the guys said ‘No, no, let’s go. Let’s do it. Let’s do it in July’. I accepted, but my body for July was not good.”
On his feeling on Renan Barao’s treatment by the UFC “I don’t know how much money he makes, but my friends tell me, him being champ and he has the belt from the biggest event in the world and he’s still living in a favela. When they posted a picture in one bed. Like a poor bed, two room. I go, man this guy, for 32 fights he hasn’t lost. Him being a champ and doesn’t have money to buy a house. No, this is not fair. Sometimes this is not so good for anyone.”
“He won 32 fights in a row, the champion for the biggest event of the world and he don’t make money.”
“He doesn’t have a good situation; you know like a pop star situation. Nice car, good life, you know.”
“He doesn’t live good, or have money to have a good life right now. For sure not”
On relationship with Dana White “For me, I have a good relationship with him. I respect him, he respects me.”
“With me, no, no problems. He was talking about the money that I make. I never said (that he wasn’t paid enough). The money for me, okay it’s good. Not like it’s in the NFL, but it’s okay. I’m not talking about my money. I’m talking about the money for the younger guys. The guys who are coming from nothing and expect to fight for 4,000 bucks. I don’t know, this is not fair. You’re going to hurt yourself, put your life on the way for 4,000 or 8,000 bucks. This is not fair.”
On how to improve the sport of MMA “You put the guy on a contract. You need to take care of this guy.”
“When the guys open their eyes, that’s going to be better for the sport. Because When the fighters have more money, the guys can have better trainers, eat better, can train better. When the fight is better, you’re gonna make the new idols, you’re gonna make the classics too. We’re going back to the top again, because right now the MMA goes down. All the numbers. You can check the pay-per-views, you can check the views.”
“Before, in my time, we had the fights and we topped the couches with people around the world. Everybody was talking about this guy against this guy, big fight, huge fight. This does not happen anymore.”
“I want to make MMA ready to go into the next steps to be like the NFL, like American football.”
“I want the fighters to have a better life. Like a better life in general. Because sometimes the guy (MMA promotions) treat the guys good, just only when the guy is fighting good. When the guy is fighting bad, the guys are fighting the sometimes on the internet, on twitter; ‘this guy is no longer part of the company anymore’. The guys don’t call to say ‘hey, you can’t work for us anymore. No this is not fair. And sometimes in the press conferences they say ‘this guy is this, this guy is that, this guy needs to retire, this guy..’ no. We make the show. We need respect. The guys need to respect us, and this is why I don’t want to fight again.”
On Improving Nevada State Athletic Commission “We need to make the clear rules. The clear rules about the commission, the clear rules about the contract, you know?”
“This commission, nobody knows who put these guys there. Nobody knows who took these guys. Nobody knows. Nobody knows nothing. We need to know who gives the power to these guys, who gets behind these guys. You know, because we don’t know. We never know.”
“We need to open the book and I want to know everything.”
On appealing his NSAC punishment “I’ll go to the court. This is not fair, and I’m going to fight to the finish.”
“I’m gonna prove that these guys have no law against me. These guys can’t do nothing with me. I’m gonna prove that.”
On how he shouldn’t have been tested as he was an unlicensed fighter at the time “Exactly. I don’t have a licence. Man, I don’t work for these guys. I don’t have a contract or have nothing signed. What these guys can do? Nothing, and that is their rules. I don’t make these rules. These guys make the rules, and these (guys) don’t respect their rules. What? These guys want to be over the law.”
On possibly fighting for another country or promotion such as Bellator “No, no, no. For me, it’s done. I (will) not fight anymore. For anyone”
On not being inducted in the UFC Hall fame in the future “I don’t want (it). If the guys invite me I won’t accept, because my Hall of Fame is my fans. My fans are the Hall of Fame. Not him. He does not decide who goes into the Hall of Fame. The fans decide.”
“He can’t decide everything. No. The guys go to the Hall of Fame just for him (laughs). No way man, I don’t accept. If the guy is asking me, I don’t go.”
You can listen to audio of the complete interview via the YouTube player at the top of the page.
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