The world of mixed martial arts is full of various outstanding athletes who represent different countries of the planet. However, MMA leaders along with Americans also include Brazilians who brought their jujitsu to the octagon. Along with wrestling skills, there are many great drummers among Hispanics. Today, more and more common real wagons are found, who are equally good in both wrestling and shock equipment. One of such masters named Antonio ("Bigfoot") Silva will be discussed in this article.
Curriculum Vitae
A giant from Brazil was born on September 14, 1979. The fighter’s hometown is Campina Grande, in which he lives to this day. The growth of the athlete is 193 centimeters. Despite constant physical exertion, Antonio’s hands, feet and skull are gradually expanding and thickening due to his disease called acromegaly (impaired function of the anterior pituitary gland).
Sports career
“Bigfoot” Silva tried his hand at many MMA promotions, including titans such as: Hero's, BodogFight and Elite Xtreme Combat (in the latter he was even the champion of the heavy division). He also performed quite successfully in Strikeforce and Sengoku. Today, the athlete performs in the leading world promotion - the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where his fate is so far unenviable, since he is on the verge of being fired.
Performances at Strikeforce
Silva held the first battle in this already non-existent Bigfoot organization in November 2009. His compatriot Fabrisio Werdum opposed him then, who won the fight by the referee’s decision (all the judges gave him preference with a score of 29-28).
In the second battle of the Grand Prix, Antonio fought against Belarus Andrei Orlovsky, who also lost his debut match in the promotion. Everyone expected that their fight would be very spectacular, and one of the fighters would finish the fight ahead of schedule, but in reality the confrontation lasted for all three rounds allotted, and the Brazilian won the victory.
In the third fight, “Bigfoot” Silva competed with Mack Kyle, who was able to beat by technical knockout in the second five-minute.
Meeting with the Last Emperor
In February 2011, Antonio met with Russian Fedor Emelianenko. The first round was marked by an enchanting exchange of blows in the rack. Thanks to its colossal advantage in size, the Brazilian was able to break Fedor's nose. After one of the Bigfoot attacks, the fighters ended up on the ground where the Russian attempted to strangle his opponent with a guillotine, but Silva was able to escape from strangulation. However, the attack of Fedor did not end, and he tried to conduct the so-called kimura - a painful arm technique, from which the Brazilian was also able to successfully dodge.
The second five-minute period was marked by the passage to the Brazilian's legs , after which he was over Emelianenko for the whole round, stabbed him and even tried several times to get a painful reception. As a result, the Russian had a large hematoma near the right eye, doctors were forced to prohibit the continuation of the fight.
“Bigfoot” Silva against Overeem - such a semifinal was planned at the Grand Prix, but the Dutchman was forced to leave the tournament due to a hand injury, the organizers made a substitution, giving the American Daniel Cormier the opportunity to speak . In this confrontation, the Brazilian was considered an unconditional favorite, but sensationally lost in the first round.
UFC fights
The debut match in the leading world promotion for the Brazilian turned out to be extremely unsuccessful - he lost by knockout to Kane Velazquez. After this battle, two victories followed: over Alistair Overeem and Travis Brown. In revenge with Velazquez, the American of Mexican descent was again stronger.
Mark Hunt - Bigfoot Silva - this confrontation also consisted of two fights. And if in the first fight a draw was fixed, which was later canceled due to the dope found in the blood of the Brazilian, then in the second fight the representative of New Zealand won an indisputable technical victory.
Silva’s last Bigfoot fights are also extremely unfortunate for him. In particular, in May 2016, at a tournament in the Netherlands, he lost to a local star Stefan Struve, and it took the Dutchman only 16 seconds to win. It was during this time that he managed to “bomb” the Brazilian with blows and knock him out.