LAS VEGAS – UFC president Dana White paid tribute to former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva after confirming that the Brazilian had fought inside the octagon for the final time.
Speaking to reporters, including MMA Junkie, backstage after the UFC on ESPN+ 39 event at the UFC Apex, White admitted that he didn’t feel happy with himself for allowing Silva to fight on and compete on Saturday night. But when asked about the Brazilian’s legacy with the promotion, he was full of praise for “The Spider.”
“He could do things to people that other people couldn’t,” he recalled. “He was almost impossible to touch. He would be just on the end of your punch – the leather might touch him just a little bit, – and he’d come back with a combination that would either knock you out, or almost knock you out.
“He used to do some fun stuff. What he did to Vitor Belfort when he fought Vitor. What he did to Rich Franklin. Chris Leben, at the time, was undefeated and had an iron chin. He came in and made Chris Leben look like he had no chin. What he did to Forrest Griffin when he went up to 205. The list just goes on with the incredible things. He had a messed-up rib (and) the Chael Sonnen fight goes the whole way and he submits him with just a couple of minutes left in the fifth round. Just legendary fights that Anderson Silva’s had here, when he was in his prime.”
White said he’d read Silva’s comments about the UFC not feeling like a family since Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta departed the organization, but stated that negotiations between him and the Brazilian were never bad-tempered, and there was a certain way he had to do business with him when booking fights.
“Every time we would sit down to do a fight, there was just a process to it,” he explained. “It was never bad, it was never combative or any of that type of stuff. There was a process you had to go through with Anderson, and maybe that’s what he means when he said it hasn’t felt like family for him, because we haven’t gone through any processes lately. I don’t know, it was always a pleasure dealing with Anderson. It was never bad.”
As for Silva’s standing in the pantheon of UFC greats, White said “The Spider’s” influence and popularity during a huge growth period in the promotion’s history helped introduce the sport to countless fans, and fighters, around the world.
“He’s one of the greatest of all time (but) I don’t know if I could come up with a (ranking) number,” he said. “You’re going to see a lot of great talent coming (through) in the next five or six years. But Anderson Silva is one of the all-time greats.
“A lot of kids that would have played other sports became mixed martial artists from watching Anderson Silva and he had a massive impact on this company, in Brazil and other parts of the world.”