Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion Anderson Silva has removed himself from the card for UFC 212. The fighter had yet to accept a new opponent for the bout, following the pulling of his original opponent.
Anderson “The Spider” Silva was initially set to face Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212. However, Gastelum was pulled from the bout after being flagged by USADA for a potential anti-doping policy violation. Following the incident, a few different fighters offered themselves for the match.
However, Anderson Silva had not accepted any new challengers. Now, in a recent Instagram stream that is no longer available, the former champion announced that he is removing himself from the card entirely.
As transcribed by MMA Junkie, Anderson Silva explained “I really wanted to fight in Brazil, my country, but it’s not going to happen. I want to apologize for this. I really wanted to fight here, but it didn’t happen. I think I was hurt in this, but that’s it.”
“I’m very disappointed. The guys don’t respect my legacy, don’t respect my story in the sport. I don’t know. I’m done.”
