Anderson Silva ‘disappointed' with the way the UFC has treated him

Jose Aldo and Khabib Nurmagomedov are not happy with the UFC’s recent decisions, and you can add Anderson Silva to that list.

The former UFC middleweight champion, and one of the best MMA fighters ever, last competed inside the Octagon at UFC 200 in July, replacing Jon Jones on two days notice against light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. Silva lost via unanimous decision.

Even though Silva took the fight on short notice to help the promotion, the Brazilian said he didn’t get the recognition he deserved from UFC president Dana White nor Lorenzo Fertitta. In an interview to Brazilian outlet UOL, Silva said he’s just disappointed.

"Man, it’s complicated to talk about it," Silva said when asked about his return to the Octagon. "I didn’t even get a ‘thank you’ from Dana or Lorenzo after my last fight. I was the one who wanted to fight, of course, I took the fight, but I know what I’m worth, my importance. I was really disappointed with the lack of respect from the UFC towards Brazilian athletes. I’m an athlete who took the sport to another level. I don’t get or ever got the respect from people. That made me really upset, sad and disappointed with the UFC."

Silva hasn’t won a fight in five years, losing four of his bouts and having his unanimous decision victory over Nick Diaz overturned after failing a drug test.

"The Spider" says he was offered to be a "plan B" in case something happened to Michael Bisping or Dan Henderson, who battle for the middleweight champion at Saturday’s UFC 204 in Manchester. Silva, who lost to Bisping in a controversial fight in February, is unhappy with the way the offer was presented.

"I didn’t talk to them or anyone after my last fight," Silva said. "They even offered me to stay in standby in case something happened with Bisping or Henderson. But it’s more absurd how that (offer) came. They didn’t even talk to me. My representatives came as a messenger pigeon. I'm not the type of guy to get messages. After everything I’ve done, I still have to stand by and wait for a fight I won? I found it a little unpleasant.

"I will say it again: I’m really disappointed with the way they have treated me, very upset with all that," he continued. "I was not the one who said I was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Dana said that. Maybe he said that to promote the event or because he really thought that. We will never know the truth. The fact is that everything I’ve done, no one else could do. I won’t want to be cocky or arrogant or think I’m the best, but what I’ve tried to do all those years was to show I was different from the others. And that’s not my opinion, but everyone’s."