Issue 106

October 2013

Gareth A Davies MMA and Boxing Correspondent for The Daily Telegraph, London, considers the external impact of Anderson’s KO loss

Brazilians demand ownership of their sports stars. I first experienced this covering football many years ago. Another Silva, Gilberto Silva, had come from humble origins having worked in a sweet factory in his hometown of Lagoa da Prata, to Arsenal Football Club.

In one interview, he’d told me that he was kept grounded on his multi-million-pound salary in England’s Premier League whenever he went home. “People never let you forget where you have come from,” the Brazilian midfielder had explained.

Now it’s Anderson Silva’s turn to get the same treatment. In droves. I reached out to several renowned colleagues in the Brazilian fight sport media after the manner of Silva’s defeat to Chris Weidman in July, and it was quite clear there was a deep dissatisfaction in the disdain Anderson had shown for the challenger in his 11th defense of the UFC middleweight title.

There was the sense Silva had forgotten he was representing a nation every time he stepped into the Octagon, that their dreams and aspirations were being carried by him. Perhaps that burden weighs heavily on a man who enjoys simple things.

It was a UFC title reign which spanned seven years, and Silva had played a major part in the rise of MMA in Brazil, his prominence made even more pronounced by his management under former footballer Ronaldo’s high-profile agency.

Right now, however, the mirror has cracked.

I’ll admit here, Silva’s appeal in media terms remains deep. He is enigmatic and mesmerizing, both as a personality and as an erudite fighter. But just as fans can be fickle in mixed martial arts, just as they are the most passionate fans in the world, so can the media. 

I can reveal that members of the Brazilian press corps present in Las Vegas at UFC 162 went to Silva’s room with his entourage after the contest, and they were dismayed that Silva’s immediate mood was one of being resolved, initially, that his time was done as a fighter.

A week later, of course, the rematch was announced. Silva-Weidman II will now be an even greater affair, and in the oxygen of marketing and publicity, will most likely generate one million or more pay-per-view buys. But it was ever thus in fight sports.   

Brazilians were hard-hit by Silva’s defeat at UFC 162. It had a ripple effect. There are those who believe Silva should be more conscious of his responsibility and that in spite of the massive growth of the sport in that country – the UFC has targeted Brazil as the biggest growth market – the middleweight’s appeal is both broad and deep in bringing fans and fighters to the sport. He has, therefore, a duty to uphold.

It’s worth recalling that in the weeks leading into this contest, Silva was even compared to the greatest soccer player of them all, Pele, as one of the most popular sporting icons to emerge from the nation. The spite, since his loss, from some quarters is tangible.   

There are even those suggesting Silva will always be seen as damaged goods. But we’ve seen the pendulum swing back after a spectacular performance. My view was that Silva was beginning to break Weidman in the second round after all.

One point of view stuck out to me. Marcelo Russio, MMA editor of Globo Esporte, believes Silva’s comportment has backfired on him. “When a guy like Ayrton Senna, Gustavo Kuerten, Pele or Anderson Silva loses their world titles, and loses the way Anderson lost, after playing and disrespecting his opponents, our love for them turns into anger in equal proportion.”

Russio compared the mood in Brazil after Silva’s defeat similar to losing a match in FIFA’s World Cup. That’s an enormous burden on one man. Enormous. The shock of the defeat was so great, there were even those suggesting the fight was fixed. Ludicrous.

Will Silva ever gain forgiveness? Perhaps, but only if he wins against a ‘new generation’ mixed martial artist in Weidman. His return performance against the New Jersey native is crucial. But who knows how Silva will fight on December 28th. There is no guarantee he will stick to the plot; and why should he?

Yet Brazil – its people, fans, and media – along with so many others outside of the South American country, now expect. Anderson Silva must deliver at UFC 168. For my part, I sincerely hope he does. MMA, and the UFC, remains a richer

place with one of the all-time greats back at the top.