Kemal
22-10-2016, 07:03
Antonio Silva’s UFC career is over for the time being after more than four years and 11 octagon appearances with the organization.
Silva (19-10-1 MMA, 3-7-1 UFC) completed his UFC contract with a second-round knockout loss to Roy Nelson at UFC Fight Night 95 in September. The fighter and organization mutually agreed to not renegotiate a new deal, an official from Silva’s camp told MMAjunkie, making “Bigfoot” a free agent.
The Brazilian heavyweight’s parting of ways with the company will not come as a shock to most, especially when taking his recent record into consideration. Silva has just one victory in his past eight fights – a second-round TKO of the now-retired Soa Palelei at UFC 190 in August 2015.
Silva’s lone victory in nearly four years was crammed between a string of ugly losses. On top of the recent stoppage loss to Nelson in his native Brazil, Silva has also succumbed to knockouts at the hands of Stefan Struve, Mark Hunt, Frank Mir, Andrei Arlovski and Cain Velasquez.
There was also a December 2013 draw with Hunt at UFC Fight Night 33, a bout many considered a “Fight of the Year” candidate before Silva was flagged for banned substances and suspended.
The highlight of Silva’s UFC tenure came when he recorded back-to-back knockouts of Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 and UFC on FX 5, respectively. However, the crowning achievement of his career still came prior to his UFC run when he picked up a stunning TKO of Fedor Emelianenko under the now-defunct Strikeforce banner in February 2011.
At 37 and with the UFC portion of his career over for the foreseeable future, it doesn’t appear Silva will look the way of retirement. Silva’s manager, Alex Davis, recently told MMAjunkie that if his client was no longer with the UFC he would look at what options may arise overseas.
“I think ‘Bigfoot’ will probably be out of the UFC and probably go to Rizin (FF) or Russia,” Davis said.
Silva (19-10-1 MMA, 3-7-1 UFC) completed his UFC contract with a second-round knockout loss to Roy Nelson at UFC Fight Night 95 in September. The fighter and organization mutually agreed to not renegotiate a new deal, an official from Silva’s camp told MMAjunkie, making “Bigfoot” a free agent.
The Brazilian heavyweight’s parting of ways with the company will not come as a shock to most, especially when taking his recent record into consideration. Silva has just one victory in his past eight fights – a second-round TKO of the now-retired Soa Palelei at UFC 190 in August 2015.
Silva’s lone victory in nearly four years was crammed between a string of ugly losses. On top of the recent stoppage loss to Nelson in his native Brazil, Silva has also succumbed to knockouts at the hands of Stefan Struve, Mark Hunt, Frank Mir, Andrei Arlovski and Cain Velasquez.
There was also a December 2013 draw with Hunt at UFC Fight Night 33, a bout many considered a “Fight of the Year” candidate before Silva was flagged for banned substances and suspended.
The highlight of Silva’s UFC tenure came when he recorded back-to-back knockouts of Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 and UFC on FX 5, respectively. However, the crowning achievement of his career still came prior to his UFC run when he picked up a stunning TKO of Fedor Emelianenko under the now-defunct Strikeforce banner in February 2011.
At 37 and with the UFC portion of his career over for the foreseeable future, it doesn’t appear Silva will look the way of retirement. Silva’s manager, Alex Davis, recently told MMAjunkie that if his client was no longer with the UFC he would look at what options may arise overseas.
“I think ‘Bigfoot’ will probably be out of the UFC and probably go to Rizin (FF) or Russia,” Davis said.