In place of the gritty Carlos Tevez, the masterful Anderson Silva. Yesterday, Corinthians Sport Club announced it has hired the undefeated champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, an athlete under the management of soccer superstar Ronaldo. Among other marketing initiatives, Anderson will wear the Corinthians soccer jersey at the August 27 UFC Rio show in Brazil.
Anderson has already been seen publicly sporting the jersey of his beloved team – where he got his start in the martial arts as a boy –, following his swift win over Vitor Belfort, a self-proclaimed fan of team Flamengo, with which he dreams of signing a similar contract.
Cartoon by Felipe Elias posted on blog of commentator Milton Leite
The UFC middleweight champion and Corinthians have been courting each other ever since signing a contract with Ronaldo’s 9ine agency. Due to a crisis involving Brazilian soccer fans earlier in the year, Anderson was mentioned as a possible “solution” to pacify the club’s fans.
Now in times of peace, MMA is back on the tips of everyone’s tongues, but for a more serious reason. Parties close to Corinthians and the fighter have already started talks of opening an MMA and martial arts training center at the club, which Anderson would oversee and use for his own training when in São Paulo.