Anderson Silva Wants Title Fight With Yoel Romero – Or He’ll Retire
Former longtime UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was scheduled to compete against rising contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212 on June 3 in Brazil, but Gastelum was forced to withdraw from the fight after being flagged by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) for a potential anti-doping agency.
Luke Rockhold and Vitor Belfort were rumored to be possible replacements for Gastelum, but Silva is still without an opponent and he’s beginning to get ‘frustrated’:
“I’ve been in Rio a long time, started training camp and I am very frustrated because nothing happens with my fight in Rio. I don’t know, the guys don’t talk to me. Sometimes they say fights coming, no fight come and now, nothing happens. They gave me the option to fight for my country for my fans,” he said during a recent appearance on “The MMA Hour.”
“I stayed here for a long time for training,” Silva contined. “This is not my fault for Gastelum to go out of the fight. This is not my problem. My problem is training hard for fight in Brazil for my fans. What happens to my fans now? What happens to the people who paid to see my fight in Brazil. This is the second time this happened. I’m tired of this.”
The 41-year-old Silva, who’s coming off of a decision victory over Derek Brunson, even went as far to say that he’ll be ‘done’ fighting if he isn’t given an interim title fight against No. 1-ranked Yoel Romero, which is another option that has been rumored:
“The guys no give this fight for me for the interim belt, I’m done,” Silva said. “I’ll go be with my family. I’m done,” said Silva. “I say, ‘OK, I go fight Yoel Romero. Because I know I respect Yoel Romero, he’s a great fighter. He’s No. 1 in the ranks. But, one thing — why Yoel Romero come to Brazil for fight me for nothing?”
“This is perfect bullshit,” Silva said. “I’m tired. I’m so tired. I’m respectful long time. Everything, I never talk about bad situations in UFC. … I think I’m done. I fight for long time in my life. And I’m tired, bro. I’m so upset. I have my legacy, I have my story. It’s very frustrating, because this is the second time I’m not fighting in my country.”
How do you think the UFC should handle this situation with Silva?
