UFC legend Anderson Silva will take on Derek Brunson at UFC 208, but speaking at a media day ahead of the event he revealed that he's still got one eye on his career outside of MMA.
The Spider is coming off of two losses to Michael Bisping and Daniel Cormier in 2016, prompting many fans of MMA to express their wishes to see the once dominant champion retire from fighting, but the man himself is still very much looking to compete in the octagon. At the same time, however, he is not shy in revealing his asperations to become a star in another field after he does eventually decide to call it quits.
Speaking to Combate [via BloodyElbow.com], Anderson claimed that he dreams of one day winning an Oscar, and incredibly revealed that he wrote a script for a TV show that has been bought by Netflix.
My biggest dream, right now, is to maybe win an Oscar. I got some auditions to do in Hollywood. I wrote a script for a series and Netflix bought it, thank God. I got other projects apart from fighting. It was always my dream to become an action movie actor. I have been studying that for a while and now things are finally happening.
Silva has already appeared in a number of productions, but thus far they have been limited to those low budget straight-to-DVD mixed martial arts films such as 'Tapped Out' and 'Never Surrender', as well as a cameo on NCIS and his a documentary on his rise to the top of his sport 'Like Water' which was released in 2011. But to actually write a script that has been grasped by Netflix is quite something.
Without giving too much detail, Anderson gave us an idea as to what we can expect from his series, which he admits was frustrating to write with such a commitment to MMA keeping him away from it.
It's an action show, but it has nothing to do with fighting. It doesn't have a name yet, we're still adapting it to script and we'll settle on a name once it's all done. I had to stop for awhile, but I'm always working on it, you know, it's annoying. I'm always writing, putting ideas on paper, before I go to bed and after I wake up.
He's not the only one who fancies himself in front of a big screen. We've seen MMA and Hollywood mix before with Ronda Rousey's role in the 'Entourage' movie, as well as Michael Bisping featuring in the upcoming 'xXx' reboot, a role that was originally intended for Conor McGregor, who has also expressed his belief that he will one day light up the big screen.
And on McGregor, Silva clarified his reasons for recently stating that he would like to fight the Irishman, stating that his interesting style is something The Spider, who is no longer interesting in rankings or belts, would love to test himself against.
I'd like to test myself against Conor because he’s an interesting martial artist. His stand-up game is an intelligent game. Not because he’s champion now, but for the martial arts challenge. I’d like to see how these stand-up techniques, his and mine, would mix, and how that would go. But not to fight for a belt or anything like that. For the challenge, an interest, that thing about knowing how a fight like this would go.
I believe he can make 176, 178 pounds, right? That’s a weight I can get.
It certainly would make for an interesting watch in terms of the coming together of two very unique styles, but the reality is that the list of opponents with better reasons to fight McGregor is long and continues to grow.
Still, his fight with Derek Brunson at UFC 208 is something to look forward to, as his this Netflix series, if it ever sees the light of day.
