After hauling in a massive payday against Canelo Alvarez earlier this month, Floyd Mayweather Jr. says he doesn't hold a grudge against former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva for comments he made last month. In addition to ambiguously referring to Mayweather as 'Papa Smurf,' Silva claimed he had 'no respect' for boxing's pound-four-pound best.

"I pray for him,' said Mayweather. "He's okay. I don't have nothing negative to say about the guy Anderson Silva. I've seen some highlights on him. I don't know him personally, but I've seen highlights of him fight, and hopefully he can bounce back. I heard he just took an ‘L,' so hopefully he can bounce back from that loss."

Silva, who was stopped by Chris Weidman in their title bout at UFC 162, is in the middle of a seven-city press tour to promote the pair's rematch set for UFC 168 on Dec. 28, 2013. As the tour has moved east from Los Angeles and later south to Brazil, Silva has become increasingly short with journalists during each stop. We'll have to see how he responds to 'Money's well wishes.

5 MUST-READ STORIES

Tragedy. Sad news this morning as we've learned of the death of Brazilian fighter Leandro Souza, who was set to compete at Shoot Brazil 43 card in Rio de Janeiro. Souza's teammate, Andre Santos, confirmed with MMA Fighting that the death was related to his weight cut.

Teixeira next for Jones. After an epic battle last saturday night with Alexander Gustafsson, Jon Jones and the UFC are moving forward by giving Glover Teixeira the next show at the light heavyweight title.

P4P Rankings. After being dragged into deep waters for the first time, our voters seem thoroughly convinced of Jon Jones' position atop the MMA pound-for-pound rankings.

Asian MMA Update. Read up on the latest happenings, including former DREAM champion Shinya Aoki booking his first featherweight bout at ONE FC 11 in October.

Fan chat. Switching it up from being bombarded by media all week long, Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman answer questions from the masses.

MEDIA STEW

Chris Weidman defends Tim Tebow on ESPN's First Take.

All Access: Mayweather vs. Canelo: Epilogue.

TUF 18's Jessamyn Duke shows some striking from rubber guard.

Jake Shields says Demian Maia could be the one man to submit him.

The Fight Network previews tonight's Bellator 101.

Short feature on Josh Burkman.

Brutal fight from EUMMA.

(HT to r/MMA)

This week's episode of the Tommy Toe Hold Show.

TWEETS

Still gunning for Roy.

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight, Risin' up to the challenge of our rival pic.twitter.com/4lPGWcifh4 — Anderson Silva (@SpiderAnderson) September 26, 2013

His vote counts at least twice.

"@RubbyRozay: @ChrisWeidmanUFC what do you think about Gustaffson not getting an immediate rematch ?"I wanted to see it. — Chris Weidman (@ChrisWeidmanUFC) September 26, 2013

Now we're crusading.

UFC I want to fight TJ Grant on Feb 1 in Newark NJ. I have tons of fans in NJ. and they are coming to support me @ufc @TJ_Grant @danawhite — khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) September 27, 2013

The newest Bang.

You forget Mike's only 5'10.

Dat chip count.

Me & Siyar.. Not doing so well at charity celebrity poker... Ugh :| http://t.co/4hF9O7Ommr — Alistair Overeem (@Alistairovereem) September 26, 2013

Crowdsource this man's career.

Question for the fans. Got offered a fight with WSOF to fight Mike Kyle. I wanna know what you all think. Is it... http://t.co/PtF4wJ0Snh — Anthony Johnson (@Anthony_Rumble) September 26, 2013

Indeed.

Was never a Weidman fan but hearing him troll Stephan A Smith on Tim Tebow made my day and made me a huge fan! Hahah — Ulysses Gomez (@uselessgomez) September 26, 2013

Better?

"I would like to clarify the statement I made about Ronda was to express I feel she is dramatic on TUF 18, not mentally sick." — Cris Cyborg (@criscyborg) September 27, 2013

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced yesterday (Sept. 26 2013)

Piotr Hallman vs. Al Iaquinta at UFC Fight Night 30

FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today's Fanpost of the Day comes via member Archelon.

JDS vs Cain: Heart, Will and the Championship Mentality (Part 1)

There was a time when the Baddest Man on the Planet was the boxing heavyweight champion of the world. The phrase was Tyson's, but Norman Mailer pre-empted him by around 15 years. Combat sports have faded a little in popularity since then. In 1992 the Ultimate Fighting Championship put on its first event, billed as a no-holds-barred tournament to determine the most effective martial art. It caught something, snagged a bloody piece of the public consciousness at that juncture of pro-wrestling, extreme sports, and the Karate Kid. It started small, but the UFC and the sport at large grew in jolts and bursts. It would become a bizarre hyper-accelerated model of 20th century athletic competition, a rollicking sprint from the days of hardnosed bruisers and carny barker freakshow matchups to the modern day sports-science athlete, made all the more strange by being played out in the modern day. Time compression had its own relativistic effects upon perception and nostalgia. It's not uncommon to see a grizzled veteran fan of the UFC hold forth to a neophyte, explaining how they'll never be able to truly understand what it was like in the real golden era, all those years ago. Way back, in 2005. ...

Check out the rest of the post here.

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