UFC legend reveals why he turned down Anderson Silva fight before Tyron Woodley stepped in

Anderson Silva was lined up to face a different opponent on December 19.

Later today, Silva will face fellow former UFC champion Tyron Woodley in his fourth professional boxing bout since stepping away from MMA in 2020.

The matchup seemingly came together very quickly, with very little negotiations needed to get ‘The Chosen One’ to sign on the dotted line.

It also makes sense for this particular card given that both Silva and Woodley have fought Jake Paul in the past.

A different former UFC star recently revealed that this fight is only happening because he declined the opportunity to take on ‘The Spider’.

Jorge Masvidal says he turned down boxing match with Anderson Silva on December 19

An injury forced Chris Weidman to withdraw from his trilogy fight with Anderson Silva, leaving the UFC legend without an opponent for the rescheduled December 19 card.

Tyron Woodley may have received praise from Most Valuable Promotions for being easy to work with, but it seems that he wasn’t their first target.

Jorge Masvidal believes that he’s annoyed the UFC as he tries to plot his return to the Octagon.

‘Gamebred’ boxed Nate Diaz last year, and with him always receiving a great reaction from his home fans in Miami, he would’ve been a strong addition to the card.

However, after revealing that he was offered the fight during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Masvidal spoke about the two reasons that he turned it down.

“They want your boy to fight in Miami on short notice but they don’t want to pay, I don’t want to play.

“UFC don’t like MVP so if I tell UFC I want to do this, they might be like, ‘Yeah, but you can’t come back.’ And they love me,” Masvidal continued. “I’ve been with the UFC my whole life so how could I ever turn my back on them? They’ve been feeding me forever.”