For former middleweight champion Anderson Silva, there is absolutely nothing wrong about mixing homosexuality with mixed martial arts.
Such a topic may not generate a lot of buzz since there has not been too many "coming out parties" in the UFC. So far, only former bantamweight contender Liz "Girlrilla" Carmouche has become open about it.
However, the 39-year old Brazilian former champion is not discounting the fact that there are homosexual fighters in the UFC, it was just that they have not found the courage to come out, he says.
"I don't think there's prejudice, but there's a lot of homosexuals in mixed martial arts," Silva said in an exclusive interview with Fightland. "There are a lot of them who haven't yet come out."
Homosexuality is not much of a taboo today as it was in the past decades. Nowadays, there tends to be an equal treatment between straight and gay men. In boxing, Puerto Rican featherweight Orlando Cruz came out of the close in October 2012. The World Boxing Organization (WBO) currently ranks him the number four 126-pounder.
That being said, many of the past and present fighters have weighed in on the subject, with most of them being perfectly fine with it.
For former light heavyweight king and UFC Hall-of-Famer Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, being gay does not matter, as long as the said fighter is tough enough to bang it out and win his fights.
205-pound contender Phil "Mr. Wonderful" Davis shares the same sentiment, noting that the same case holds true for all other sports events. He also agrees with the same thought as Liddell, that what matters more is his ability inside the cage.
As for Silva, he is fine with it as well. In fact, he says that he does not main being in training with a gay man.
"As long as he respected me, it's all right," Silva said. "I don't think much of it. The fact that guy is gay doesn't mean he's going to accost you."
Fightland also reports that "The Spider" is apparently experiencing some "teasings" about his vanity. Silva shares that he is conscious about his physical well being such as putting cream on after training. While the said instances brought about questions about his manhood, the former long-time champion is not mindful of it at all, and was even able to crack jokes about it.
"A lot of people have asked me if I'm gay. I answer, "Look, not to my knowledge. But I'm still young, it could be that in the future I'll find out that I'm gay."
