Bigfoot Silva Says He’s Prepared To Grapple With Frank Mir
Antonio Bigfoot Silva and former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir have an interesting fight coming up at UFC 184. Mir, currently on a three-year/four-fight losing streak, will likely be fighting for his job come February 28th. Silva, although a little more successful, has also fallen upon hard losses n recent times.
Bigfoot looked to be on fire with his two KO wins over Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem in 2013, but knockout losses to Cain Velasquez and Andrei Arlovski, and a draw-turned no-contest against Mark Hunt have slowed his pace. Talking with MMAFighting.com, Silva discusses his recent form:
“Nobody wants to go through a losing streak like that, so we’re both hungry to get the victory, I always fight better when I’m coming off a loss. That’s my goal for this fight. I don’t choose opponents — I’m always ready to fight anyone the UFC thinks this is the best fight for me,” he said. “Frank Mir is a former champion and is very popular here in the United States. We’re both coming off a loss and we both need this victory, so it’s going to be a great fight for the fans.”
One thing the heavyweight division still holds above most others is the amount of finishes it produces, and you could argue that the skills in this bout almost promise a stoppage. Mir has world class grappling that he once used to snap the arm of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Silva is no slouch on the ground with his BJJ black belt, but usually gets it done with his striking. He continued:
“Of course — that’s what I train for. I have to go in there confident that I can do it,” Silva said. “Nothing is impossible in sports. I have what it takes [to submit him]. I’ve fought great grapplers throughout my whole career and I was never submitted. I’ve fought Werdum, who has the best jiu-jitsu in MMA, so I will be ready for Mir. If I can keep this fight standing, it could be the less complicated way to beat him.”
“Frank Mir is originally a grappler, he has a good ground game, but he also has a good stand-up game. I have to be ready for everything. The fight starts standing, but anything can happen in a fight. A high-level athlete has to be ready for any type of situation if he wants to be the champion one day.”
So what do you think, will the overwhelming power of Bigfoot Silva get the Brazilian the W against Mir, or will the former champion bring back the early 00’s Mir that had everyone shook?
