by James Brydon | May 23, 2012
Twitter @James_Brydon
Antonio (Bigfoot) Silva will be a little lighter than usual when he makes his UFC debut on Saturday night.
In the co-headliner of the historic, all-heavyweight UFC 146 main card, the 6-foot-4 Silva (16-3) will take on Cain Velasquez in a matchup that could have future title implications for him and the former champion.
The Brazilian behemoth, who has won heavyweight or super-heavyweight titles three times in other promotions, has been doing the famous Mike Dolce diet, which has him feeling better prepared than ever physically.
“Things are going really well for the first time before a fight,” Silva said through an interpreter on a pre-fight conference call last week. “I was 270 pounds three weeks out of the fight, and things with Dolce are working extremely well. I’m feeling very light and fast.”
Silva, who had the biggest win of his career last February when he upset Russian superstar Fedor Emelianenko in the first round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, has often used his size to his advantage in his fights, building up a gawdy record filled with knockout wins over some other big names such as Ricco Rodriguez, Justin Eilers, Andrei Arlovski and Mike Kyle.
But when he ran into an energetic Daniel Cormier in the tournament semi-finals, he got caught by his opportunistic opponent, who entered the Grand Prix as an alternate, and was KO’d for his second career stoppage loss. Cormier went on to win the title this past Saturday, while Silva was given this chance in the Octagon as Strikeforce prepares to retire its heavyweight division.
Excited about his new opportunity in the UFC — he called it “a dream come true” — the 32-year-old Silva explained his reason for dropping some weight.
“Cain Velasquez is a lighter and much faster fighter and is diametrically opposed to my strong points which are my strength and my jiu-jitsu, so I try to come in a little bit lighter to be able to counter his speed and his lightness,” Silva said. “I think that will be favourable to me.”
Another change Silva made is returning to train at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla., after a few years. He remains a member of the Rio de Janeiro-based Team Nogueira, but one of his managers is also part-owner of ATT, who helped to bring in some top wrestlers (including a two-time world champion) and some big strikers from Holland.
“It’s made things easier for me here so I don’t have to be away from my family during the camp,” said Silva, who lives in Florida.
Originally scheduled to fight Roy Nelson at UFC 146, he was shifted into the co-main event slot against Velasquez as part of the reshuffling when Alistair Overeem was pulled from the main event due to a failed drug test.
While Silva is no stranger to being the spotlight having headlined previous cards and been part of the Strikeforce tournament, he understands this is the biggest stage. And there can’t ever be any card bigger (both figuratively and literally) than Saturday’s.
But Bigfoot says he isn’t nervous or overwhelmed by the moment.
“I’m very relaxed and feeling very, very well. I’m very well-prepared. It’s a great opportunity that the UFC is giving me for my first fight in the UFC against one of the tops in the world and it doesn’t bother me at all. I’m the underdog on this fight and it takes a lot of responsibility off my back so I feel very comfortable with that.”
UFC 146 is headlined by the heavyweight championship bout between Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir, who was originally supposed to face Velasquez before he got the title shot in place of Overeem. Nelson will now take on Dave Herman in the third fight, while Stipe Miocic vs. Shane del Rosario and Stefan Struve vs. Lavar Johnson round out the main card.
The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET. Watch four live preliminary fights on all Sportsnet regional channels starting at 8 p.m. ET.
James Brydon is the Managing Digital Editor and blogger for sportsnet.ca’s UFC section.
