Dana White: “I honestly don’t know what to do” with Anderson Silva
UFC President Dana White isn’t sure what to do with former UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva; one of the greatest fighters in MMA history.
Silva, who is now 45 years old, has lost his last two fights, first losing a decision to reigning UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, then losing via TKO to Jared Cannonier as the result of a leg injury. Those losses were preceded by a tight decision win over Derek Brunson, and a string of four straight losses to Daniel Cormier, Michael Bisping and Chris Weidman (twice).
At this stage, White says, he’s not sure what to do with the aging legend.
“I don’t know,” White told ESPN recently. “I honestly don’t know what to do with his last two fights. When Anderson’s really ready to fight, we’ll sit down and look at it, and we’ll figure out what we thinks makes sense for him next. There’s a lot of things that goes into the decision-making process with an Anderson Silva. His age, what he gets paid – all that stuff’s important.”
Silva recently flirted with the idea of a fight with current welterweight contender Anthony Pettis, who has previously competed in the 155-pound lightweight and 145-pound featherweight divisions.
White is not keen on that idea, arguing that the matchup doesn’t “mean something.”
“I’m not crazy about it,” White said. “You’ve got a guy that fought at 145 pounds and a guy that’s in the conversation for the GOAT at 185 pounds and walks around at 210, 215. It’s not a big fight that really means something. I like making fights that mean something, so I’m not crazy about that fight.”
Anderson Silva, who held the UFC middleweight strap from 2006 to 2013, is currently 34-10-0 overall.
What do you think the future holds for the 45-year-old MMA legend? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section down below.
Topics:
Anderson Silva Dana White UFC