Att folk i Brasilien är intresserade av MMA är en underdrift. Men samtidigt har de haft ett ganska dåligt rykte. UFCs VD Dana White har besökt Brasilien ett antal gånger, och kommer göra det ett antal gånger till, men han håller inte med om det här dåliga ryktet som de har.
I think Brazil is getting a bad rap. To be honest with you, the first few times that I went to Brazil I was very nervous and thought, ’oh my God,’ this and that. I’ve been to Brazil many times and Brazil as a country and Brazilians as a people are getting a bad rap. Brazil isn’t as dangerous and as scary and as crazy as everybody thinks it is. I mean sure, there has been some bad things that have happened down there in the past. Bad things happen everywhere, you know? We can say the same thing in Detroit, we can say the same thing in New York, we can say the same thing in a lot of cities across the United States.
Yes, he (Sonnen) has said a lot of stuff about Brazilians and that country and lots of people are going to tune in and show up to see Anderson Silva kick his ass because that is what the Brazilians want. I don’t think that it’s at a point where, you now, people down there want to hurt Chael Sonnen, you know what I mean? They are going to show up, watch a sporting event and they are going to look for their countrymen and their hero and the best fighter ever to come out of Brazil or any other country around the world to win that night against Chael.
Att fans använt laserpekare för att försöka blända en fighter kanske inte riktigt hör hemma, men de har ändå inte varit våldsamma på något sätt. Men det största testet på Whites påstående lär komma på UFC 147 när de kommer att dyka upp i Brasilien med Chael Sonnen för att gå en match mot Anderson Silva.
