MMA legend Wanderlei Silva announces retirement, ripping UFC on his way out

Wanderlei Silva is retiring from MMA and says the UFC is to blame.

The legendary fighter announced he would be hanging up the gloves in a video interview Friday. The reason, Silva said, is because the UFC has taken away his desire to compete.

"They don't respect the athletes, they don't take care of the athletes, they don't pay the athletes," Silva said. "They don't give anything to the athletes, only crumbs. And this is a shameless lack of respect, but enough is enough."

Silva, 38, is embroiled in a fight with the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC), which is on the verge of disciplining him for evading a drug test in May. Silva's lawyer Ross Goodman is arguing that the NAC cannot penalize Silva, because he was not a licensed competitor at that point in time. Silva's hearing is set for Tuesday and he could face a lengthy suspension plus a fine.

Silva (35-12-1, 1 NC), who gained fame for his violent bouts in PRIDE, did not mention his legal issues in the video. But he did take the UFC to task for multiple reasons.

The Brazilian claimed UFC officials pressured him to fight Chael Sonnen in May and offered him much more money if he took the bout on May 31. Silva said he was not ready physically and didn't want to perform at less than 100 percent.

"So I asked myself, if they have the money, why didn't they offer it to me before?" Silva said. "They always hold on to the money, so they always underpay the athletes. But they do have the money."

Silva used former UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao as an example of the UFC not respecting fighters. Barao was scheduled to fight three times in six months this year. In the middle one, he dropped his belt to T.J. Dillashaw and in the most recent he got injured during a weight-cutting mishap. Silva blames the UFC for pushing Barao to fight so much without rest and was livid about how the organization reacted when Barao had to pull out of UFC 177 after fainting and hitting his head.

"What did the promoters do?" Silva said. "They bashed him and mocked him. They were all proud to keep saying that Barao's going home without a dime."

Silva said the situation with Barao made him very angry and led him to decide he could not fight for the UFC anymore, because he doesn't "have a dignified stage where athletes are respected."

"Today is a very sad day for me," he said. "Unfortunately this organization took away my desire to fight. I can't do this anymore, I can't keep being treated this way."

Silva will retire as a former PRIDE middleweight champion and 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix winner. One of the most exciting fighters to ever compete in MMA, Silva is a five-time Fight of the Night winner in the UFC and holds the record for most knockouts in PRIDE history (15). In his last fight, he KO'd Brian Stann in the second round opn March 3, 2013.

Now, he plans on being an advocate and voice for fighters. This video, he implied, was just a start.

"And they can't shut me up," Silva said.