Former UFC champion blames Wanderlei Silva for post-fight incident that led to injuries

An ex-UFC champion believes Wanderlei Silva deserves blame for a recent post-fight melee.

Silva shared the ring with Acelino Frietas in a boxing match on Sept. 27. Things went off the rails when Silva was disqualified in the fourth round due to repeated headbutts. Both teams engaged in a post-fight brawl, which led to Frietas’ son, Rafael, knocking “The Axe Murder” out with one punch.

Silva has revealed that he plans to take Rafael to court, but during an episode of the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast, Kamaru Usman said the MMA legend isn’t blameless (via MMAFighting.com).

“When you foul the man repeatedly, continuously, at that point you’re not really in here to fight,” Usman said. “You’re not in here to fight a fair fight. You’re going and throwing strikes and things that are not within the confines of the rules, of course, my team’s going to try to protect me.

“When you create a situation like that, which I do believe that he created, and I love Wanderlei Silva, but he created that situation. Part of what we do as professional fighters is we have to learn how to control that aggression and let it out when it’s necessary, whether it’s outside the ring or inside the ring, you have to learn how to control that. And if you can’t control yourself to where you continue to throw headbutts, and like you mentioned, there was a knee in there at some point, yes, then you’ve got to be prepared for the repercussions that’s going to take place. And you saw what took place.”

Silva is 49 years old and many believe he should’ve never been in such a fight to begin. “The Axe Murderer” mentioned prior to the fight that he believes he is suffering the long-term effects of a career that saw him compete in a slew of wars. While Silva has a bevy of highlight reel finishes, he’s also had his share of brutal knockouts. The incident at Spaten Fight Night 2 certainly didn’t help matters.