Anderson Silva Turns on the UFC and Its Fans

Anderson Silva has disgraced himself and embarrassed the UFC.

If Dana White fails to take aggressive action to punish Silva for his antics in the main event at UFC 97, he will diminish the reputation he has worked hard to build, and he will let down the fans whose enthusiasm and hard-earned dollars have made the UFC the unquestioned leader in MMA.

Any fan would be foolish to expect any future main event featuring Silva to be worth the price of admission under the circumstances, and the UFC would be equally foolish not to recognize the severe damage Silva has done to the UFC brand.

Consider what this means to Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt, or any other legitimate challengers for the UFC Middleweight Championship belt.

Casual fans, who in the past may have bought a Silva fight based on his credibility and reputation, would not consider doing so now. What this means for these contenders is that they will be waiting quite a while before they get their shot.

How many fans, even serious ones, will be truly excited at the prospect of paying $50 for PPV, or hundreds of dollars for a ticket to see another Silva fight? 

UFC main events always generate buzz, and fans love to speculate and predict and debate. Dana White has to understand that the chatter about the next Anderson Silva fight will be very different from that which usually precedes a headline fight, and not in a good way.

I was among those fans in attendance at the Silva-Cote debacle, and the loud boos all around me provided the first evidence of how badly Silva has damaged the UFC.

My friends and I were in the nosebleeds, and we still paid over $200 per ticket. I did not expect Patrick Cote to win, or even be competitive. I expected to see "the Spider" put on a clinic, and relentlessly pick apart Cote, before a highlight reel KO like the one he delivered to James Irvin.

Even a one-sided fight that offered the promise of seeing Silva's legendary skills dazzle and crush yet another foe seemed to be worth the money I had to spend, which included joining the UFC Fight Club so I could order tickets in the first hours after they went on sale.

Cote pulled up lame, cutting the fight short, but it was Silva's clowning that made the fight a source of frustration for those who paid and had been excited to be there. Silva showed how much he appreciated our sacrifice and our support for him and the UFC by making little effort to put on a real fight.

Out of respect and admiration for Silva and the UFC, I chose to believe that what I had just wasted over $200 on was out of character, and I just happened to attend on the one bad night Silva had in an otherwise spectacular career.

But I, along with thousands of others in attendance who had been real Silva fans, left with a bad taste in our mouths and questions about the Spider.

On Saturday, Anderson Silva made a clear and unmistakable statement—he no longer takes the UFC, his fellow fighters, or the fans seriously.

In the words of Dorothy Willis, I'm "calling BS" on Silva's lame explanation that he wanted to prove "to everyone that I'm able to go five rounds and that I'm in good shape".

Luke Thomas of Bloody Elbow wrote that a fighter ready to go five rounds is the expectation when you're a champion in a UFC main event.

"You guys know this is not what the UFC was built on," Dana White said after the fight.

That is an understatement. He then promised to talk to Silva about why he did not want to fight. Well, he had better do a lot more than that.

We all know (White included) that the record-setting crowd that paid to watch UFC 97 in person, and the large PPV audience, were cheated. We all know, except for Dorothy, that there is a world of difference between countering, patience, and waiting for your opportunities, as opposed to passing on countless opportunities to put your opponent away on the other.

What Silva did cannot be seriously compared by anyone to Lyoto Machida's or anyone else's style. Fans do not pay to see Anderson Silva or anyone else simply because they have outstanding skills. We pay to see fighters display those skills.

UFC judges score fights based on grappling, striking, aggression, and octagon control, abd there was less of those in five rounds of the Silva-Leites travesty than in one round of a normal fight. Dana, you need to tell us what you're going to do about it.

Anderson Silva needs to pay the price for his bizarre and insulting behavior. He should forfeit his UFC 97 purse, or of his belt, or perhaps even serve a suspension. Perhaps deducting two points if a fighter fails to make a reasonable effort to capitalize on openings should also be put in place to keep that from happening again.

What must not be allowed to happen is for Silva or any fighter to show up unprepared to fight to the best of his abilities. So far, Anderson Silva seems unconcerned. As he puts it, "You guys can boo if you want. You are paying my salary."

Dana, there is no middle ground here. You will have to side with the fans or against them over this incident. Here's hoping you will stand up for the fans and protect the brand you have built, and refuse to let Anderson Silva or anyone else get away with the kind of disrespectful behavior we have seen here.

If the UFC does not take credible action and soon, it will be as responsible as Silva for the damage done to the sport of MMA and to those who love it.