{"id":208191,"date":"2016-10-23T06:52:50","date_gmt":"2016-10-23T13:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=208191"},"modified":"2016-10-23T06:52:50","modified_gmt":"2016-10-23T13:52:50","slug":"mehdi-baghdad-claims-ufc-matchmaker-joe-silva-told-fight-injured-get-fired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/joe-silva\/mehdi-baghdad-claims-ufc-matchmaker-joe-silva-told-fight-injured-get-fired\/","title":{"rendered":"Mehdi Baghdad Claims UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva Told Him to Fight Injured, or Get Fired"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, it was announced that long-time UFC matchmaker Joe Silva would be parting ways with the organization in December<\/a>. Given the near endless list of incredible fights Silva has constructed for the fans over the years, this news was met with widespread disappointment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not everyone, however, will miss the long-time matchmaker.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview<\/a> on Bloody Elbow’s\u00a0The MMA Circus<\/em>, former UFC lightweight Mehdi Baghdad explained that his release from the organization was the result of his refusal to fight injured. Apparently, he was given a simple choice by Silva: fight injured, or get fired. He was given this choice when he sustained an abdominal hernia in the buildup to a fight with John Tuck, which was scheduled for the UFC’s cancelled card in Manila<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in emergency the night before I gave the bad news that I had to pull out,\u201d Baghdad said. \u201cI called my manager, my manager called Joe Silva. And Joe Silva just answered back like, \u2018You need to pull out? We cut you.\u2019 And my manager said, \u2018Come on, man, you can\u2019t do that! The doctor said that he has to do surgery; he can\u2019t fight. And then he force himself to fight? He can’t! He has to do surgery.’ So my manager let me know. ‘They need you to go fight, or you are fired.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSo I said, ‘So let me choose in my head. I\u2019m fired from UFC, or I\u2019m f*cked up from fighting, because I can have a big problem if I fight with my hernia.\u2019 I get the choice \u2014 my health is the first choice, I\u2019m not going to fight with the hernia when the doctor told me I can\u2019t.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not just because I’m a little bit hurt here or somewhere. I had surgery last week, he opened my abdomen. It’s not something I tried to lie, so I don’t know, I don’t understand.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Baghdad<\/a><\/p>\n

Baghdad went on to explain that this was probably the result of Silva’s ego.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just the ego of Joe Silva,\u201d he said. \u201cHe just said, \u2018If you no get this fight, if you pull out, we fire you.\u2019 That\u2019s why, three weeks later, I got this letter, you fired from UFC,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about you can come back one more or two more fights, it\u2019s not about this. He told me nothing about I come back.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What do you think of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva? Sound off, PENN nation!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, it was announced that long-time UFC matchmaker Joe Silva would be parting ways with the organization in December. Given the near endless list of incredible fights Silva has constructed for the fans over the years, this news was met with widespread disappointment. Not everyone, however, will miss the long-time matchmaker. In a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":202202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10488],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMehdi Baghdad Claims UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva Told Him to Fight Injured, or Get Fired | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/joe-silva\/mehdi-baghdad-claims-ufc-matchmaker-joe-silva-told-fight-injured-get-fired\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mehdi Baghdad Claims UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva Told Him to Fight Injured, or Get Fired | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Earlier this year, it was announced that long-time UFC matchmaker Joe Silva would be parting ways with the organization in December. 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