Perhaps the greatest aspect of being a celebrity — you know, other than the money, women, coke parties, etc. — is the ability to profoundly impact a fan’s life with the simplest of gestures. Take UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, for instance, who recently surprised a twelve year-old Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and Silva megafan suffering from Epiphysiolysis (the loosening or separation, either partial or complete, of an epiphysis from the shaft of a bone) in a Brazilian hospital.

The fan’s name is Joao Pedro; he has been wheelchair bound for 9 months and has already undergone two surgeries in an attempt to combat his condition. Despite this, doctors are still unsure if he will ever walk again. However, after Joao found out that his doctor also catered to the likes of Silva and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (who probably financed the guy’s second and third houses over the years), Pedro requested an autograph from the pound-for-pound great. Being the stand up guy that Anderson is, he decided to step it up a notch and show up in person with an armful of autographed gifts for the little dude.

The heartwarming video and transcription are after the jump. 

(No, you can’t do that… you can’t triple jab a double jab, you can’t triple jab a double jab! Ace!)

Perhaps this news shouldn’t be all that shocking, considering that MMA is as popular in Brazil as, well, pornography is in Brazil. In either case, you might be surprised to learn that the incredibly weak lineup of UFC 147, which faced enough injury withdrawals to give Joe Silva a heart attack twice over, drew in over 20 million viewers, as reported by Tatame.com. That’s only three million less than UFC 142 brought in back in January, which featured Jose Aldo’s destruction of Chad Mendes, Edson Barboza’s destruction of Terry Etim, and Anthony Johnson’s destruction of a nearby Chima Steakhouse.

As we all know, Chael Sonnen occasionally says things about Brazilian fighters, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and the country of Brazil that are less than complimentary. You ever wonder what the fans of Brazil think about Chael Sonnen?

Us neither. But Ariel Helwani was at the open workouts for UFC Rio, and there were a few fans there, so why not? Turns out, while there are a few that recognize Sonnen’s promotional efforts for what they are, mostly the Brazilian fans just plain don’t like the gangster from America. Go figure.

Check out five minutes of Brazilians talking about Sonnen. It’s worth it.

[RX]