Anderson Silva: Chael Sonnen not that evolved

Carlos Eduardo Ozório: How significant is the UFC’s return to Brazil for the first time in ten years?

Anderson Silva: MMA is growing by leaps and bounds and gaining popularity. We have to be ever more serious about the work we’re doing in order for it to stay that way. The UFC coming here is really important for the big companies and sponsors to see and believe in this sport.

CO: You’re managed by former soccer star Ronaldo* and represent Corinthians soccer club in the octagon. Do you feel MMA may one day have as many fans in Brazil as soccer does?

AS: Getting up there with soccer… Soccer has its own parameters and numbers. I have friends on the soccer inside and from being around them I’ve realized it’s something completely different in many respects, but I hope MMA gets close. In the United States, the UFC has managed to outdo American football, which is the biggest sporting event over there. We have to try and come close to doing that here. Beating soccer is impossible, but it would be great just to come close and get a similar level of recognition.

CO: You always admitted to being a Corinthians fan, even tried to play for them. How do you feel now that you represent the Timão when you fight?

AS: I was born in São Paulo [Corinthians is the most popular team in São Paulo] and moved to Curitiba when I was four but I’ve been a Corinthians fan ever since I was a kid. Life works in funny ways. I lived in São Paulo with my dad for a year and tried out for the Corinthians. Everything ended up going wrong, I didn’t make the cut, but I stuck around at Corinthians training boxing with Coach Vitor Ribeiro. I’m blessed, as now I’ve joined the ranks, I got to meet Ronaldo and have this relationship with the club together with 9ine [Ronaldo’s marketing firm]. Thank God it’s all working out and we’re reaping the rewards. My greatest frustration was always that I didn’t make it as a soccer player, and now I get to represent the Corinthians in a different way. It’s really gratifying.

CO: You broke barriers, gained exposure in the mass media, and your agenda is always packed. Does that get in the way of training?

AS: We try keeping a balance between outside commitments and my work as a professional fighter, and it’s going smoothly. I’m working with super professional people and we’ve managed to put everything in order, always as a team. It’s been great, man. I feel this business of breaking barriers in other sectors of society when it comes to fighting has been going on for some time now. There’s the example of Master Rickson [Gracie] and other fighters. We just have to keep it up, keep working to get our sport to where it should be.

CO: Your last opponent, Chael Sonnen, recently made some derogatory statements** about you, Brazilian fighters, and the Brazilian people. Do you have anything to say about that?

AS: Man, what can I say about him? All of us, as Brazilians, get upset by his attitudes. We respect Americans, Japanese; we respect everybody. We have a tradition in this sport dating back many years and it’s sad to see people not respecting that. But if they don’t respect you in one way, they will in another. We’ll show our hegemony, our strength and heart in another way. Unfortunately, there are people living in the first world who aren’t all that evolved. We have to show our intelligence, take in the good and filter out the bad.

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*Anderson Silva management

Anderson Silva is still managed by Ed Soares and Jorge Joinha Guimaraes, while 9ine look to secure sponsorships and opportunities to develop the brand of The Spider.” 9ine is a partnership venture between the three-time FIFA Player of the Year Ronaldo, entertainment entrepreneur Marcos Buaiz, and London-based advertising powerhouse WPP.

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**Chael Sonnen’s most recent comments about Brazilian fighters

“Wanderlei, you are an immigrant from Brazil. I am a gangster from America. Are you sure you wanna play that game with me? Listen Wanderlei, I will do a home invasion on you. I will cut the power to your house and the next thing you’ll hear is me climbing up your stairs in a pair of night vision goggles I bought in the back of Soldier of Fortune magazine. I’ll pick the lock to the master room door, take a picture of you in bed with the Nogueira brothers working on your ‘jiu-jitsu.’ I’ll take said quote unquote photograph, post it at http://www.dorksfrombrazil.com, password – not required, username – not required. That, Wanderlei, is how you threaten someone. Dummy.”.

“(Wanderlei Silva) is scared and he sucks. This guy’s delusional, this guy thinks his 22 wins in Pride were real. With a referee with an earpiece. Look Wanderlei, you didn’t win those fights in Japan. You had one fight in Japan, dummy! It was with ‘Krazy Horse’ Bennett and you got knocked out!”

“You have to understand. If I say something in a very private manner that isn’t intended for a certain audience, come on, you can’t hold that against me. I picked my medium very carefully when I talked about Brazil. I went to the Internet. And if I had the foggiest idea that they had computers in Brazil, I wouldn’t have done that.”

“I was in Las Vegas when the Nogueira brothers first touched down in America. There was a bus, this is a true story. There was a bus that pulled up to a red light, and Little Nog tried to feed it a carrot, while Big Nog was petting it. He thought it was a horse. This really happened. He tried to feed a bus a carrot, and now you’re telling me this country has computers? I didn’t know that.”

“I want an easy fight. Anderson Silva or Wanderlei Silva. Either of the Silvas. Bigfoot Silva. They all suck. Give me a Silva.”