Booking a 43-year-old Anderson Silva against rising star Israel Adesanya seemed like a cruel bit of matchmaking from the UFC, but it seems that there was an added incentive for “The Spider” to accept the bout.
“[UFC President Dana White] came to Los Angeles to talk to me," Silva said in an interview with ESPN. "I said to him, 'Why am I going to take this fight?' And Dana said, 'You know, you win this fight, you go to the title belt.' I said, 'OK, now you are talking good business for me.