With next year’s Olympic Summer Games rapidly approaching, it appears a former UFC middleweight champion has his eyes on new gold.
Anderson Silva is a black belt in taekwondo and would like to use his training to win a medal for Brazil when the Games are in his backyard of Rio de Janeiro next year.
MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz reports that Silva issued a letter to the president of the Brazilian Taekwondo Federation (CBTKD), Carlos Fernandes, petitioning to compete in next year’s Olympic games.
“Everybody knows that for a high-performance athlete, the Olympic Games is the dream of every athlete, and it wouldn’t be different with me,” Silva wrote, according to the CBTKD official website. “When I was named the ambassador of the sport by president Carlos Fernandes, this Olympic spirit motivated me. It will be a great pleasure to be part of this golden team, which has a serious institution, commanded by president Carlos Fernandes, who honors us very much, along with his team. Therefore, I wish to represent taekwondo and Brazil in the Olympic Games in 2016. With all my esteem, strength and honor.”
According to CBTKD, Carlos Fernandes will soon meet Silva to discuss the possibility.