UFC Fight Night 51: 3 Fights for Bigfoot Silva to Take Next
They always say you can't go home.
Unfortunately for Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva, he was the case study for such a fact Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 51.
The native of Brasilia, Brazil, returned to his hometown as a headliner against Andrei Arlovski and spent a few minutes looking lethargic before being violently knocked out by the Belarusian.
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It's a crushing loss for Silva, who has been on the fringe of the heavyweight super-elite basically since his UFC run began but is now not likely to reach such heights again.
34 years old, coming off of a suspension for testosterone and at 0-2-1 in his last three, it could be time for a late reset on his career. Here are three guys who could offer that reset.
Stipe Miocic
After being booked with Junior dos Santos, who pulled out with an injury, Miocic made a pay cheque by wailing on the fearless but overmatched Fabio Maldonado in May.
Miocic is a hot property at heavyweight these days, coming into his own with a blend of mean spirits, good wrestling and impressive boxing. He's ranked in the Top Five (and will probably move up now thanks to Silva's loss) and could use a veteran scalp to shoot him into title talk.
Silva might have something to say about that, so lock them in the cage and let them work it out.
Josh Barnett
Barnett has been on the sidelines since a loss in December to Travis Browne, but he recently won a grappling match against Dean Lister at Metamoris and looks like he's probably primed to get back in the cage soon.
If he is, a battle with Bigfoot would be fairly appealing, as both men are absolute animals with skill sets that match up nicely.
Bigfoot probably has more straight-up knockout power on the feet, but Barnett is a better grappler and is more dangerous there with strikes. Both are veterans of the game, perennial contenders everywhere they've ever fought, and it could be a fight to hammer out which one will remain relevant and which will become fodder for up-and-comers going forward.
Plenty to like here.
Mark Hunt/Roy Nelson Loser
Who wouldn't want to see Silva in there with either of these guys?
His first bout with Hunt was a draw turned to a no-contest in late 2013 and was one of the greatest fights in the history of heavyweight MMA combat. The two beat each other from pillar to post for 25 minutes, producing (and absorbing) a bewildering amount of violence in that time. Doing it again would make everyone happy.
And if you couldn't get Hunt? Well, is there anyone closer than Roy Nelson?
Nelson has the same heavy hands as Hunt only with a better understanding of grappling and how to execute it. That said, it's been a long time since ol' Roy tried to put someone away with anything other than his vicious overhand right, so there's a good chance he and Silva would put on a show.
It almost doesn't matter who wins or loses next weekend in Japan. The fans would come out on top either way.
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