A. Silva and Spider-Man. Can it be confused? Photo: MMA Press Production
Anderson Silva, one of the biggest names in UFC history, is known worldwide by the nickname “Spider”. What few know is that the nickname was given due to a passion that the fighter has had since his childhood for the superhero Spider-Man.
CHILDREN'S DAY SPECIAL
- As a child, Vitor Miranda almost didn't choose basketball
- Fabio Maldonado only wanted to be Rocky Balboa as a child
Anderson says that, as a child, his admiration for the hero was so great that, at one point, he actually thought he was Spider-Man himself. “When I was a boy, I received a Spider-Man costume as a gift from my aunt. I would wear the costume under my school uniform and, during recess, I would play all the time and no one would call me by my name because I would get angry. I thought I really was Spider-Man”, recalls Anderson, in an interview with the “UOL” portal, in 2011.
[vox id=”25815″]
Years later, as an MMA fighter, Anderson details the episode that resulted in the creation of the nickname. “I went to fight in Japan and on the day of my second fight, the presenter of the event saw me wearing a Spider-Man t-shirt and said I looked like him. At night, at the time of the fight, she announced to me like this: 'From Brazil, Anderson – The Spider – Silva'...and she was the one who gave him that nickname”, he said.
From chubby to Mad Dog
Chubby, Wand wanted to be successful among the girls. Photo: Reproduction
Wanderlei Silva He was interested in martial arts from a very early age in his life. However, what caught his attention was not his admiration for fighting itself, but rather the opportunity to get in shape and catch the attention of girls during his pre-teen years.
“When I was 13 I was chubby, I was really chubby. I was chubby, ugly and poor, and I didn't know why little girls didn't look at me at school! My friends all give kisses to girls at school and I don't do anything! I wanted to date little girls, but they were nothing to me. Then my brother started doing bodybuilding, he started getting stronger, and I said 'hey, I won't be able to change my face, but I can change my body'. And it worked”, joked the fighter, in an interview with the program “De Frente com Gabi”, in 2013.
Years later, the former chubby man began his career in MMA and became one of the most idolized fighters around the world.
The hit that transformed Minotaur
The Nogueira brothers had a dramatic childhood when Rodrigo was run over. Photo: Reproduction
A childhood episode also influenced another great name in the history of MMA to begin his career in the world of fighting. But, in the case of Rodrigo Minotauro, the story is surrounded by drama and suffering.
At 11 years old, while playing at a birthday party in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, young Rodrigo was run over by a truck working on construction work at a neighboring house. Minotaur jumped into a pile of sand and sank, unable to get up. The truck went over the hill and crushed Rodrigo, who was quickly taken to the hospital.
During surgery, it was found that Minotauro had broken several ribs and some organs had been punctured, including the liver, lungs and kidneys. The legs were also severely damaged, so the prognosis was not positive as far as Minotaur's recovery was concerned.
However, five months after the incident, Rodrigo was discharged from the hospital, and, on the recommendation of doctors, he returned to intense judo training in order to improve the physical conditioning damaged by the accident. The rest became history: Minotauro specialized in other martial arts, became PRIDE and UFC champion and today is considered one of the biggest names in the history of MMA.
Training wrestling with a…bear?
One of the most watched videos by MMA fans this year was Khabib Nurmagomedov, second in the UFC lightweight rankings, training wrestling with a bear in his childhood.
Nurmagomedov was nine years old at the time and said he remembered little of the episode. However, the fighter recently posted a new video in which he trains with a bear and joked: “Meeting an old childhood friend.”
Comments