Silva pursues a career in acting
At this point, there has been so much talk about the July fight between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman as well as the December rematch that there is little actual news to report in regards to either. We know that Silva plans to reinvent himself as "new," that Weidman's life has changed and that Dana White expects UFC 168 to set records. It's all interesting and significant, but also quite widely spread by now.
There are still three months between now and the Dec. 28 date, so something will have to fill headlines, but any new wrinkles to the actual fight remain thin. As to the fighters, how about this? During his recent media interview in New York City, Silva passed along some news that flew under the radar. "The Spider" is training to become a thespian.
"One of the projects I'm working on is I'm studying to be an actor," he said through his interpreter Ed Soares. "There's various projects on the table in Brazil."
Though he didn’t offer any specifics, Silva has done a bit of acting in the past, with two credits in released movies according to IMDB. But for 2013 and beyond, he's already attached to five different projects.
One of them, Brazilian film "Ate que a Sorte noose Separe 2," features a cameo from American comedy icon Jerry Lewis. Another, "Monday Nights at Seven," will star Academy Award winner Edward James Olmos.
Though none of the films are major Hollywood releases, Silva looks to join other MMA notables like Randy Couture, Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano as fighters who parlay their names and reputation to a second career on the big screen. Others, like UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones, have also voiced an interest in following the same path.
The 38-year-old Silva saw his fame explode during his record UFC title reign, which spanned nearly seven years and 10 successful title defense. He has nearly 4 million Twitter followers and is wildly popular in his home country.
While he still has nine fights remaining on a deal signed just before his initial fight with Weidman, the move may be with an eye towards his post-fighting life as well. However, it’s hardly the end of his diversification. Among his other pursuits? Charity work. With the help of the UFC and his management team, Silva is focusing on helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
"Kids that don't have a chance, I want to give them a chance," he said. "I'm really focused on giving back, and with the help of the UFC and my team, we're going to be able to do that."
