Brazil has a long, rich history in mixed martial arts. Gracie jiu-jitsu was one of the backbones of the sport and since then the South American nation has produced dozens of champions around the world, including three of the current seven UFC champs. Anderson Silva, ranked best pound-for-pound fighter in the world , leads the brigade. He along with fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort, his opponent at UFC 126, have a chance to push MMA to new levels in their home country.
It's hard to believe, but the sport still struggles in Brazil for mainstream exceptance. There seems to be a disconnect between the sport and many potential viewers. With their upcoming fight and their prefight media work, Belfort and Silva have a chance to close that gap.
Wednesday's press conference provided a big opportunity, but it almost fell apart before the fighters got to spread their message.
The UFC decided it was time to bring a Portuguese translator (pictured below with microphone) for Silva.
To this point in his career, the middleweight champ's manager Ed Soares has always served in that role. Soares was placed amongst the media on Wednesday, sitting next to (on the left) the newly appointed translator.
It was awkward. Silva, wearing dark sunglasses for much of the presser, didn't appear very happy about the change. The new translator didn't help his cause or ease Silva's lack of comfort. He struggled with the basic concept of first fielding the question, then relaying it to Silva and most importantly relaying Silva's answer back in English.
John Morgan from MMAjunkie opened with some of the early questions for the champ (VIDEO - 4:15 mark).
Morgan: A lot of people are saying Vitor is the best striker he's faced. Does feel that way or where does he feel Vitor falls in that mix?
Silva through the translator: No.
Morgan: Anderson had to deal with a lot of fan criticism over a couple of his fight, but obviously the last one was a thriller. Does he feel all that is behind him now or does he have something to prove to the fans?
Silva through the translator: No
Dana White: It’s gonna be one of those press conferences.
The translator stumbled, bumbled and seemed uncomfortable. He was allowed to translate one more exchange. When he described something as the "essence" of what Silva said, that was it. An annoyed White re-installed Soares as the translator for the remainder of the presser.
It was a good thing because there was a good-sized Brazilian media contigent on hand and the opportunity to spread the message back home could've been wasted.
Belfort, who speaks English pretty well, talked about the journey for MMA in Brazil from 1997 to 2011
"People were saying the sport is violent. So I went through a lot in Brazil," Belfort said of the reaction he got as a 19-year-old. "So now is a time, people are accepting our sport."
The UFC will turns thing up a notch after this event by landing in Rio de Janeiro late in the summer.
"Dana bringing the UFC to Rio is amazing, but now we need the open channel. We need the network (television). So people need to open their mind, the sponsorships," Belfort said. "They need to come. They need to enjoy. They need embrace the UFC. It's just like soccer. We need all the channels (wanting to air) the sport."
Silva was excited about more people being exposed to the sport.
"I think it's a great opportunity for the Brazilian fans. Myself, as an mma fighter representing the UFC and I can remember growing up as a kid. I think this is going to break down a lot of barriers not only in Brazil, but break down around the barriers throughout the whole world and give opportunities to kids that they may not have not had before," said Silva.
White said later that we still don't have a feel in the U.S. for how big this fight is in Brazil. Hopefully Silva and Belfort will open up a little more today during open workouts. It sounds like there's a good buzz in the home country for this legend vs. legend battle.
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Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos. 
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos. 