It was the middle of the night, and DJs turned off the music. Bars shut
off their jukeboxes, and people shifted attention to their nearest TV
set in dwellings all around Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Curitiba, and
other cities in the north of Brazil.
That’s when Anderson Silva took on Vitor Belfort at UFC 126 and
delivered a first-round knockout that, he told MMAjunkie.com, has taken the sport to a new level of recognition
in his home country.
That means the spotlight is getting brighter for the middleweight champ.
But Silva, who said he’s noticed a surge in popularity since the Feb. 5
event, welcomes the attention.