“Spider” Not Afraid of Embarrassment for Olympics Tryout

Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva will continue to pursue his dream of being on the National Taekwondo Squad for Brazil in the 2016 Olympic Games.

Silva stated his intentions during a press conference in Rio yesterday afternoon, as reported by Globo:

“I’m trying to give back what the sport has given me. I started out doing taekwondo, taekwondo changed my history. I’m already training, I never stopped. This is something I have always wanted to do. I couldn’t do it before because of my obligations with the UFC. I stopped training taekwondo when I was 17, so I know I will face adversities, but it’s a challenge I’m willing to take. I’m not worried about being embarrassed,” said Silva, who turned 40 last week.

Next to Anderson, the president of the Brazilian Taekwondo Confederation, Carlos Fernandes, claimed Silva won’t receive any special treatments during his tryouts, but emphasized it would be an honor to have him on board:

“We know about our champion’s potential. I understand he’s an icon and taekwondo was his first martial art. It’s an honor to have such an athlete with us. He has the right to participate, but so do all the other athletes”, said Fernandes.

The tryouts for the Olympic Games will start in beginning of 2016 and Silva’s weight class, male heavyweight, will be the first one to be evaluated.

Stay tuned to BJPENN.com for further updates!

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