Anderson Silva: ‘Cocky’ fighters like Conor McGregor ‘can’t cross the line’

UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has been travelling around the world in order to promote his July title fight with “The Notorious” Conor McGregor.

The Brazilian standout and brash Irishman have been at each other’s throats for most of the World Tour and will finally get to settle their beef at the UFC 189 pay-per-view event this July 11 in Sin City.

Their rivalry (Aldo’s and McGregor’s), is much like that of Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen’s from a few years back. Aldo playing the part of a respectful champion, while McGregor (like Sonnen) playing the part of the “Bad Guy”.

Former UFC middleweight champion and mixed martial arts legend Anderson Silva recently spoke about the importance of having a “Bad Guy” in the fight game, while noting that those characters have to be careful to not ‘cross the line’, his words:

“Everything is valid, but you can’t cross the line. It’s nice to promote events, everybody likes the cocky guy, but you can’t cross the line,” Silva said during a quick Q&A session with fans after a seminar in Rio de Janeiro. “There is a fine line and when you cross it… Our sport is a full contact sport. You can’t cross that line too much. You can promote, joke, provoke, but can’t cross the line.”

So far, Conor McGregor has not taken the “Bad Guy” role to the same extent of Sonnen, who insulted Silva’s family and the country of Brazil on multiple occasions.

“Sonnen crossed the line a little bit, disrespected our country and disrespected me, which isn’t cool for our sport,” Silva said. “We have women and kids, older people watching this sport. It’s important to know how far we can go with promotion.

“If we don’t promote it the right way, people don’t see you with good eyes, and nobody would associate themselves with a guy that talks trash about the other guy’s country, the other guy’s wife. You have to promote the right way, with respect.”

Thoughts?

 
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[Silva Transcript via MMAFighting.com]