Former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva returns to action at UFC 208, where he will be fighting Derek Brunson. Silva, though, doesn’t like the way the UFC’s new owners are changing the sport.
"It’s a company that is worried about entertainment. It’s not a company with a history in martial arts, the philosophy of the fight,” Silva said to Combate. "That’s one of the reasons why ‘Jacare' is not fighting for the title because, for them, it’s not something profitable, that will bring the entertainment they need. This is what they did their entire lives, work with entertainment. We have to understand that. It’s hard because we think about the martial arts, what is correct. For the show, some fights make sense and others don’t. They end up losing some fans but gain some. I think they are trying to make it more entertainment and and less martial arts. MMA doesn’t have the martial art philosophy, but it's becoming less sport and turning into entertainment.”
Silva believes that WME-IMG took a big risk by buying the UFC, but thinks everything will be fine in the end.
"I think they just took a big risk because the face of the UFC was always Dana (White) and Lorenzo,” Silva said. "When you don’t have Dana and Lorenzo, the good cop and the bad cop, it’s kind of up in the air. But let’s be positive. I believe everything will be alright."
UFC 208 takes place on Saturday, February 11 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York with Holly Holm and Germaine De randamie headlining.
