Anderson Silva is facing a backlash from fans in his native Brazil after ringside microphones for the UFC 112 broadcast of his fight with Demian Maia apparently picked up Silva taunting his opponent in Portuguese, using terms which are considered very offensive in Brazil.
Portuguese-language MMA forums have been abuzz with discussion over the insults Silva levelled at Maia at points in the fight. The end of the second round is when he is said to have been most offensive, allegedly telling Maia “Bate na minha cara playboy” (“Come on, hit me in the face playboy.”)
(Update: Several Brazilian UFC fans have contacted Fighters Only to say that this comment actually came from Anderson’s corner team, who said to him “Bate na cara desse playboy” (“Come on, hit this playboy’s face”). Anderson’s corner are also alleged to have shouted “Falou demais, agora apanha” (“You talked too much, now get spanked”). Maia claims not to remember exactly what it was Anderson said to him in their fight).
Odd as it sounds, ‘playboy’ is a serious insult in Brazil when levelled at certain targets. The stark class and economic divides in Brazil make for a wide gulf in status between the rich and poor. In Brazilian terms, a playboy is a hedonist rich kid, the product of a pampered upbringing who cares little for the poor and knows nothing of real life.
Anderson is also said to have cried out “Cade o Jiu-Jitsu?” (“Where is your Jiu-Jitsu?”) as Maia failed to get him to the floor, and also told him “Get up off your ass and get hit some more” when Maia dropped to his back looking to play guard.
According to the general tone on the major Brazilian MMA forums right now, Anderson has surprised and upset many of his fans with his comments. Maia told Fighters Only yesterday that Anderson had sworn at him during the fight but declined to go into detail about what was said.
That was a sporting and honourable thing for Maia to do but fans have already picked up on the comments are spreading them around the forums. So far this particular backlash has been confined to Brazilian fans but a poster named Gomes on Portal do Vale Tudo summed the feeling up:
“Wow, the guy went mad. American are usually super socially-conscious with this kind of discrimination, when they discover what he said, heads will fly. This guy has lost all notion of what you can do in a fight. This type of social/personal insult is the equivalent of ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson saying “I’ll fuck until you love me, bitch!”
