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Dana White Anderson Silva

UFC president Dana White said that MMA legend Anderson Silva won’t speak to him anymore in the years since he left the UFC.

Silva departed the UFC following a 2020 TKO loss to Uriah Hall. At the time, he was 45 years old and had lost three straight fights and five of six overall. The UFC decided that he was well past his prime and let him go.

Since leaving the UFC, Silva has done professional boxing, going 3-1 overall with wins over Tyron Woodley, Tito Ortiz, and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., with his lone boxing loss coming against Jake Paul. Now 51 years old, Silva was reportedly contacted by MVP MMA to fight on the Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano card in an MMA bout, but he declined the offer, as Silva is currently pursuing a post-fighting career as a police officer in Los Angeles, California.

Dana White Says Anderson Silva Won’t Talk to Him

Speaking to Rolling Stone in an interview ahead of UFC Freedom 250, White was asked what his current relationship with the legend Silva was like, and the UFC president admitted that they don’t speak anymore.

“Anderson Silva, a guy who was always a unique individual to deal with, but he lost like eight or nine in a row, something like that, and that guy won’t talk to me to this day because I said it’s over, and he was in his 40s. His thing was, ‘Who are you to tell me that I’m done doing what I love to do?'” White said (via MMAjunkie.com).

While White is correct in noting that Silva struggled at the end of his UFC career, he has proven since leaving the Octagon that he is still a high-level striker. Despite being in his early 50s now, Silva could still compete against other legends of the sport, which is why MVP MMA wanted him to fight on their Netflix card.

Silva had one fight left on his UFC contract when White released him, but despite his success in boxing after leaving the UFC, White believes he made the right call in letting Silva go early.

“Even guys that were really good, but it’s at the end, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s time for them to hang them up,’ and they get upset, and some of these guys never talk to me again,” White said.

Anderson Silva Did Not Attend His UFC Hall of Fame Induction

Silva was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame Pioneer Wing in 2023, but he chose not to go to the induction ceremony. The next year, his classic fight at UFC 117 against Chael Sonnen was inducted into the Fight Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame. But again, Silva chose to opt out of attending.

Ultimately, it’s sad that White and Silva cannot settle their differences, because both men have been incredibly important to the growth of MMA and to where the UFC is today. But in combat sports, people often butt heads with each other, and that’s certainly the case here between White and Silva, who simply do not see eye to eye to this very day.