Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva
Getting knocked out on his home turf was not the 35th birthday present Silva would have wanted, but as Gus Johnson once said, “These things happen in MMA”.
It was a far cry from his previous UFC outings against Mark Hunt and Travis Browne, and Silva’s stock will likely plummet as a result.
That certainly doesn’t mean the end of the road for Bigfoot, though. There are still a number of potentially solid fights for the Brazilian as he aims to get back into the win column.
One name that sticks out with regard to a future fight with Silva is Matt Mitrione. He may be currently unranked in the UFC’s top rankings, but Mitrione is a big name who is currently riding a two-fight win streak.
A win against Mitrione would immediately put another big name on Bigfoot’s resume and will likely give him another chance to fight a top ten fighter.
For Mitrione, a win over a fighter who has fought in four UFC Main Events will further boost his name value while also putting him in a strong position for another top ten fight.
A match between the loser of next week’s Main Event bout between Nelson and Hunt will also be a highly interesting and appropriate next step for Silva.
Both Nelson and Silva and extremely hard hitters who also have underrated ground games. With 27 TKO/KO victories between them, a fight with Nelson and Silva would more than likely be fireworks and an easy fight of the night (no pun intended) candidate.
A bout between Silva and Hunt – should he come out second best against Nelson – will also be a highly interesting fight for Bigfoot.
Few fight fans will forget the first fight between them in December 2013. The UFC Fight Night Main Event consisted of five rounds of non-stop action, with both Hunt and Silva showing heart, tenacity and an almost unhuman ability to take shots.
That fight ended in a draw (a no-contest on Silva’s record as he failed a post-fight drug test), was the event’s fight of the night and was a fight of the year candidate. That alone makes a future Bigfoot vs. Hunt an easy match to make.
A rematch with Alistair Overeem and a fight with Stefan Struve are also possible next fights for Silva. Overeem won the first two round of their previous fight before succumbing to overconfidence and Bigfoot’s fists early in the third.
A fight with Struve, one of the most entertaining fighters to ever grace the UFC Heavyweight division, will also likely be fireworks.
Despite this, both of those possible fights do not have the appropriateness nor the potential for interest as Bigfoot vs. Mitrione or the Hunt/Nelson loser.
