Social Media Blues: Anderson Silva Presses Charges On Twitter Hater

In an odd bit of news from the world of social media, former longtime UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has apparently filed a police report against a 40-year-old woman in Brazil for slandering him online.

On the shelf healing from the broken leg he suffered against Chris Weidman at UFC 168, Silva was offended when he was called ‘rotten’ on Twitter. Marcelo Magalhaes, the chief of police in Pinhais, Brazil, detailed the situation to Globo Esporte:

“We’re still investigating to get her name, address and phone. It’s a 40-year-old woman who wrote on the internet, in a social media, several phrases, including ‘Brazil will see the idol and rotten that you are’.”

The strange story sounds like a bit of kicking a man when he’s down. After having been an often scrutinized UFC champion for several years, you’d think that Silva would have been able to deflect petty criticism and name calling on the internet. But perhaps he had just had understandably had enough and wanted to be left alone.

In any case, the case is expected to move onto court, where the woman could potentially receive up to six months in jail. It’s hard to fathom that she would receive such a punishment for calling a world-renowned mixed martial artist ‘rotten’ on Twitter, but the law is the law.

The police chief also stated that the accused allegedly called a ‘sh—- idol’ in an interview with MSN Esportes. The backlash comes in the wake of Silva’s first two ever UFC losses to Chris Weidman at UFC 162 and UFC 168. Silva was quick to apologize to his home country of Brazil, and his recovery from the broken leg is apparently going quite swimmingly.

In the meantime, it appears that Silva won’t be taking likely any would-be haters who choose to take to Twitter and bash his status as an icon. ‘The Spider’ is tentatively set to return training in around six months, so let’s hope his battle with his online harasser is over much before then.