Jacare Sounds Off On ‘Doper’ Anderson Silva’s Possible Title Shot
The UFC middleweight title picture is an uncertain one. Champ Robert Whittaker will face Kelvin Gastelum for the title at February’s UFC 234. Also on that same card, former champion Anderson Silva will fight rising star Israel Adesanya for the perceived next shot. Because of that, it’s time top contender Jacare sounds off on the dynamic.
The Brazilian veteran put on arguably one of his finest performance when he knocked out Chris Weidman in a back-and-forth bout at November’s UFC 230. After he did so, he said he would wait for a title shot. But when Dana White confirmed that Silva would receive that shot if he beat Adesanya, Jacare was possibly left out in the cold yet again.
The 39-year-old jiu-jitsu legend recently spoke up on the issue in a live chat with Portal do Vale Tudo last night. He offered his disgust at the current way UFC title shots are handed out. On top of that, he pointed out that Silva is coming off of a doping suspension and had been out of the rankings (translated via MMA Fighting):
”In my (jiu-jitsu) days, I competed in the state tournament to earn a spot in the World Championship. If I didn’t win the state champion, I didn’t fight the Worlds,” Souza said. “(If I won), no one would jump the line. Now, because the guy has a name and everything… The reality is, Anderson is coming off doping, man. Anderson is out of the ranking. Do you understand that?”
No Compromise
Jacare may have a good point. He knows that those who bark the loudest may get the title shot in this day and age. While trash talking may be king, however, he isn’t going to compromise his values as a respectful competitor:
”You see shits like that,” Souza said, “A guy jumping the fence to beat another one, and other shits, and you… I think I’ll start doping, I’ll start doing a bunch of shit, call everyone names. Maybe I’ll fight for the belt. But my conception is this, my principles and values are unnegotiable. If I deserve it or not, if they will give me (a title shot) or not, I won’t change. That’s the way I am and that’s my point of view.”
Souza then dove into his fight with Weidman and the mutual respect that they shared. It resulted in one of the best fights of 2018. He said that was what fans wanted to see, not a fighter coming from a doping ban outside of the rankings. To him, everyone sees that and believes it is ‘crap’:
”When Chris and I were going to fight, we respected each other. Everybody talked about our respect and everybody talked about our fight. What we do outside the Octagon, has nothing to do with what we do inside the Octagon. Inside the Octagon, Chris and I fought hard, we put our hearts in there to win, and that’s what people want to see. It’s not someone coming from doping, who is outside the ranking, who is famous because he’s one of the best in the world, to jump the line. The reality is everybody is seeing that and thinking it’s crap. And that’s the truth, it’s crap.”
Adesanya Undeserving
Finally, Jacare didn’t take it easy on Adesanya either. ‘The Last Stylebender’ carries some of the biggest hype in the UFC right now. Yet Souza pointed out he’s only beaten one top name in Derek Brunson – something he’s already done twice with ease:
”He doesn’t deserve it,” Souza said of Adesanya. “The only top middleweight he beat was Derek (Brunson), who was clearly scared. What he did to Derek, excuse me, I did twice and I did better than him, and I’m not even a striker.”
Overall, Souza acknowledged that Adesanya has everything to gain fighting Silva, but it wouldn’t be easy:
”I think Adesanya has everything to win, but Anderson is Anderson, right?” he said of the UFC 234 co-main event. “You can’t say he’s going to beat Anderson easily, that he will go there and make it happen. It’s Anderson. It won’t be easy for anyone to beat him. No one beats Anderson that easy.”
