UFC: Anderson Silva petitioning to compete in 2016 Olympic games

The 2016 Olympic Summer Games are right around the corner, and former UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, has his eye on a possible Olympic bid. The Brazailian superstar is a fifth dan black belt in taekwondo, a skillset he routinely put to use during active MMA competition inside the Octagon. Now, he's seriously considering putting his black belt to the test and realizing a longtime dream to compete in the Olympics, which are set to take place in Rio de Janeiro next year.

MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz reports that Silva issued a letter to the president of the Brazilian Taekwondo Federation (CBTKD), Carlos Fernandes, petitioning to compete in next year's Olympic games.

"Everybody knows that for a high-performance athlete, the Olympic Games is the dream of every athlete, and it wouldn't be different with me," Silva wrote, according to the CBTKD official website. "When I was named the ambassador of the sport by president Carlos Fernandes, this Olympic spirit motivated me. It will be a great pleasure to be part of this golden team, which has a serious institution, commanded by president Carlos Fernandes, who honors us very much, along with his team. Therefore, I wish to represent taekwondo and Brazil in the Olympic Games in 2016. With all my esteem, strength and honor."

According to CBTKD, Carlos Fernandes will soon meet "The Spider" to discuss this "magnificent possibility".

This is not the first time Anderson has expressed interest in the Olympic games. Shortly before his 2013 rematch with current champion, Chris Weidman, he spoke about the possibility of competing in the Olympics, but said that Dana White wasn't on board with it.

Since the International Olympic committee (IOC) takes a hard stance with any form of PED use, Silva's positive drug tests from the beginning of the year will probably preclude him from participating in the games. He is expected to meet with the Nevada Athletic Commission in May to determine the outcome of those positive test results.

As always, Bloody Elbow will keep our readers updated on this story as more information becomes available.