Anderson Silva has threatened to retire if he isn’t granted an interim title fight against Yoel Romero on June 3, but UFC president Dana White doesn’t sound ready to give in to the Brazilian’s demands.
Speaking to TMZ on Friday, White said Silva isn’t going to get an interim title shot.
“Obviously he wants an interim title,” White said. “Obviously we’re not going to do an interim title. He’s coming out publicly—you know my philosophy on that. If you ever say the ‘R’ word, you should probably do it anyway, you know. If you’re ever considering retirement, you should probably do it.”
During an appearance on the MMA Hour on Monday, Silva was adamant that he wanted an interim title fight against Romero at UFC 212 after Kelvin Gastelum was pulled from their scheduled bout following a failed drug test.
“I’m not going to fight Yoel Romero in Brazil for nothing,” Silva said, per ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto. “Yoel Romero is not going to come to Brazil for nothing. I talked to Yoel’s team, and we are on the same page. Let’s go fight, but for an interim title—because this makes sense.”
But with the UFC seemingly not budging, Silva, 42, had some heated words for management.
“This is perfect bulls–t,” Silva said, per MMAFighting.com’s Marc Raimondi. “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.”
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