Remember when Robert Drysdale called "arrogant" Anderson Silva an "idiot?"
Refresher here.
It didn't resonate much with mixed martial arts (MMA) fans because at the time, Drysdale was nothing more than a talented grappler with a perfect record in regional and International competition.
A lot has changed since then.
The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion is now a ZUFFA employee and will make his Octagon debut opposite Ednaldo Oliveira at the UFC 163: "Aldo vs. Pettis" pay-per-view (PPV) event on Aug. 3, 2013 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
That's just over a month after UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva puts his belt on the line against Chris Weidman in the main event of UFC 162 over Fourth of July Weekend. But even if "The Spider" prevails, don't expect Drysdale to be kissing his ass, simply because he wears 185-pounds of gold.
His comments to Pro MMA Now.
"I don't know the guy, to be honest. I don't know where his animosity toward me comes from. I don't think about it very much, I don't care. I tend to be very opinionated and tell people what I think. That upsets a lot of people. Being half Brazilian, I understand Brazilians really well. This whole thing about hierarchy in Brazil, in his head, he ranks above everyone else and because of that, everyone should be kissing his butt. My world doesn't function like that. You're not better than me because you have a UFC belt. I don't see the world like that so I just wasn't kissing his butt like he was expecting me to. He's probably used to that and I can see that upsetting him. From where I stand, I couldn't care less how many belts he has or how good he is, I'm not going to respect you more or less because of that."
Silva, for the record, does rank above everyone else (proof). At least within the confines of MMA.
Drysdale competes at 205 pounds, so there won't be any future grudge matches to be entertained. Then again, Silva is no stranger to the light heavyweight division, having previously put on some blubber to obliterate James Irvin, Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar.
Never say never.