The burned bridge between the UFC and Wanderlei Silva shows no signs of being repaired any time soon.
The former UFC middleweight, who is seen by many as a legend of MMA, has been one of the biggest critics of the promotion since being hit with a lifetime ban after fleeing his gym to avoid a pre-fight drug test.
That ban has since been overturned but that’s done nothing to stop the tidal wave of criticism from the Brazilian who has slammed everything from the Reebok deal to the McGregor/Mendes fight.
And now the Axe Murderer has come out with the biggest claim of all by revealing that he has proof that the UFC have fixed fights over the years.
Writing on his Facebook page about the firing of Jacob Stitch Duran earlier this week, Silva said:
“They fired him,” Silva wrote in Portuguese. “That’s right. They fired Stitch for standing against this theft being perpetrated on the athletes. So I wonder, ‘why don’t they fire me?’ I already said I do not want to, nor will I work any more for to this promotion. And they won’t dismiss me. That’s what happens to those who speak the truth in this company; they’re driven out. They have no respect for anyone. I’ve made it very clear to you all that I will never again fight for this promotion, the U.F. Circus. Fixed fights – and I can prove it! I haven’t yet dropped the bomb. I haven’t said everything I know!”
The former PRIDE middleweight champion returned to Facebook later that day to reiterate his condemnation of the UFC and claimed that the UFC is becoming more and more like the WWE.
“Either you do what they tell you, or you’re fired,” Silva explained. “I won’t give up until they free the athletes. This promoter is killing our sport. There are fighters going back to work to support their families because they can’t live from the sport alone. They’re very poorly paid. We are getting organized and soon I’ll have news for my brothers in the ring. This will not stand! Some have tried to buy me, but I am not, nor have I ever been for sale. And I will fight to the end, to unmask these promoters, who are deceiving the public, cheating, and taking the dignity and the honor from our sport! This is turning a pro-wrestling show with fixed fights. We have to stop these guys because that’s the end of the line for us!”
While there doesn’t seem to be any proof that the UFC have staged fights, many former PRIDE fighters have claimed that they were paid to throw fights in the now defunct Japanese promotion in which Silva made his name.
Whether true or not, it’s publicity that the UFC wouldn’t want to have after one of the worst PR weeks in the history of the promotion.
