A. Silva talks about dual citizenship. Photo: Reproduction Facebook UFC
Currently, in addition to being Brazilian, the former UFC middleweight champion (up to 83,9kg), Anderson Silva, can now also be called a US citizen. At the beginning of this week, the process of finalizing the naturalization of 'Spider' took place at an event held in Los Angeles. The act, however, generated outrage from Silva's fans on social media, as the 44-year-old fighter is considered a Brazilian idol. Anderson, in a recent interview with 'Yahoo', spoke about the controversy surrounding his name.
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“A lot of people took it hard. Many people have dual citizenship and are not attacked in the way I was. I was called a traitor, a renegade and things like that. I am amazed because people know absolutely nothing and want to impose their opinions as absolute truth”, said Silva. A lot of people think it was easy, they have short memories, they don't know how much I worked, I insisted. This situation is very sad, but I understand, there is no way to change the mind of someone who, even due to incompetence, only thinks about attacking”, declared Silva.
The former champion also stated that he spent time trying to understand the reasons why his large number of admirers decided to turn against him instead of trying to understand the situation the athlete was experiencing.
“I'm a person who says what I think, a lot of people don't like that. I think it bothers me that I am a person who came from nothing and, through hard work, succeeded in life. I'm 44 years old, I could have given up, but no. I'm no longer champion, but I think I still have a target on my back. Some of the media also publicized naturalization in a sensationalist way, taking something that was supposed to be positive and turning it into something negative. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who are against it”, said the athlete.
The fighter explained the reasons that motivated him to try for dual citizenship. For Anderson, the documents that prove his North American nationality facilitate the process of operating his existing businesses in the United States.
“I have been here (in the United States) for over 10 years and, like anyone else who has this opportunity, I saw no problem in obtaining dual citizenship. I have my companies here, and it is a much better situation if I have Brazilian citizenship”, declared the São Paulo native. I have several projects, including a studio for which I got investors, I'm also thinking about a film. My idea, and this is a result of naturalization, is to employ Brazilians who are in legal status here in the United States”, said the legend.
Anderson Silva also talked about the possibility of retiring from MMA soon. The athlete is currently 44 years old and has only two fights left on his UFC contract. Although the fighter recently declared publicly that he intends to continue fighting, 'Spider' is already starting to signal that he may hang up his gloves very soon.
“I have two more fights on my contract, I have knee surgery scheduled, so I think I have just fulfilled my contract in 2020. This fighting thing is something that is already becoming a thing of the past for me, a new generation of athletes and promises are emerging. . I love fighting, I love fighting, I made the best of it”, concluded the athlete.
Silva is considered by many to be the best athlete in MMA history. The fighter held his first professional fight in 1997. Throughout his extensive career, Anderson accumulated belts and, after more than 22 years in mixed martial arts, he had 44 fights, nine defeats and one unsuccessful fight.
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