Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, needed some extra incentive before agreeing to be fed to fight surging middleweight contender, Israel Adesanya.
So, promotion president Dana White handed “The Spider” an immediate title shot against the winner of Robert Whittaker (champion) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (challenger), who alongside the Brazilian, compete at UFC 234 in February.
Fellow contender, Ronaldo Souza, is rather salty over the situation.
“I don’t know [why] Jacare is doing this, but it’s not my fault,” Silva told the combat sports media (via MMA Fighting). “I try to do my best in my job. And that’s the point Dana offered to me, to fight for the belt again. It’s not my fault. I need to say ‘Jaca,’ it’s not me. It’s Dana White.”
I don’t think it’s the actual title shot that irks him.
Souza is more upset that Silva, who is just 1-4 with one “no contest” over the last six years, was gifted another potential crack at the crown after coming off his second drug-test suspension, simply because the 43 year-old “Spider” is still a box-office draw.
“Jacare” is 10-3 with nine finishes during that same span.
None of this matters unless Silva is able to upset Adesanya when the cage door closes in the UFC 234 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event on Feb. 9, 2019 inside Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
We’ll find out in less than two months.
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