Dana White has opened up about his fractured relationship with UFC legend Anderson Silva, revealing that the former middleweight champion still refuses to speak to him years after leaving the promotion.
Speaking in a recent interview with Rolling Stone ahead of UFC Freedom 250, White reflected on the difficult reality of telling aging fighters that their time in the UFC has come to an end. Silva, according to the UFC CEO, took that conversation especially hard.
“Anderson Silva… that guy won’t talk to me to this day because I said it’s over, and he was in his 40s,” White said. “His thing was, ‘Who are you to tell me that I’m done doing what I love to do?’”
Silva’s UFC exit in 2020 came after a rough stretch late in his career. Although White exaggerated the losing streak in his comments, Silva had struggled in the latter stages of his Octagon run and ultimately departed following a TKO loss to Uriah Hall.
Despite that decline, “The Spider” has remained active in combat sports since leaving the UFC. The Brazilian icon transitioned into professional boxing and picked up notable wins over Tito Ortiz, Tyron Woodley, and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., while also sharing the ring with Jake Paul.
The UFC head honcho acknowledged that fighters often struggle to recognize when their prime has passed, especially after spending years performing in front of massive crowds and competing at the highest level.
“You just never know it’s over until you actually get in there, and you can’t pull the trigger the way you used to,” White explained.
The tension between the two has quietly lingered for years. Silva notably skipped his UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2023, as well as the following year’s ceremony honoring his legendary fight against Chael Sonnen.
Even so, White made it clear that his stance was never about preventing “The Spider” from fighting altogether.
“He can still fight, you just can’t do it here,” White said.
For many fans, Silva remains one of the greatest fighters in MMA history. But according to White, their relationship may never fully recover from the moment the UFC decided “The Spider’s” run inside the Octagon had reached its end.