QuickQuote: Antonio "Big Foot" Silva think Lesnar should be ranked 2, Werdum is 1

 

In the Interview below by Tatame.com, Silva talks about the HeavyWeight Divison both in StrikeForce and in MMA. “Big Foot” is comming off his most recent win over former UFC HeavyWeight Champion Andrei Arlovski

How is your expectation for your next fight on Strikeforce?

 

It was a good think having fought with (Andrei) Arlovski and got the win. I spent some time on my parent’s house in Brazil and now I’m back, training, waiting for my next bout. People published on the internet that, probably, I’ll confront (Alistair) Overeem, once, unfortunately, (Fabrício) Werdum is injured, Fedor is coming from a defeat and I’m good conditioned, but there’s nothing set yet. Scott Coker said, on the internet, but the contract is not signed. I’m already training, I’m focused for this fight and I’m training, because I can only win this way… If my opponent changes, there’s no problem, I didn’t lose any time, I just got better prepared. But, for what I know, it’ll be him.

 

He’s coming from a good sequence of wins… How do you think this possible fight would be like?

 

That’s true: Overeem is doing great, on a good phase, but after my loss to Werdum, I tried to improve, changed some things, and whoever watched my last fight (against Arlovski) could tell I’ve changed. I’ll get there with a good conditioning, I’ll do the same kind of work I did to fight Arlovski, I’ll have the same thing in mind and I’ll keep my focus. If I’m in a good shape, I don’t mind who my opponent is… I won’t take his credits away, I’ll respect him, he’s the champion, he is going through a good phase, but let’s see if he, will all that muscles, will hold three or five rounds… I don’t know, let’s find it out. I’ll be prepared.

 

What did you think of the bout between Werdum and Fedor? Were you surprised with its outcome?

 

Man, Werdum was very determined. I’m a person who believes a lot in God and, on my fight against him, he was losing on the first round, the second was tied, but he made it up and beat me. He didn’t beat me for any reason. God put Fedor on Werdum’s way because He knew he’s beat that guy. It wasn’t my moment, it was Werdum’s moment to shine. On my fight with Arlovski, I had the chance to talk to Werdum and I told him: “Werdum, there’re fighters who always get inside the cage as the favorites, but it doesn’t mean a thing, man. Go there and bring this win to us. Everybody knows he’s the favorite, but no one is unbeatable”. He, right away, answered me: “I’ll win”. He was very determined, he had positive thoughts in his mind and thinking positive makes good things come to you. He deserved that, he’s to be congratulated and the win came to Brazil. Now Werdum is “the” man.

 

On the first fight, Fedor did not believe much on the Brazilian’s ground game and was beat by him. What do you think that would happen if there was a rematch between the two of them?

 

Man, Werdum set that as his strategy: to pretend that he has been knocked down so that he could catch him. I believe that now Fedor will not underestimate Werdum’s ground game anymore, but I think it’d be like 50-50… There’re no favorite now. On the first fight, Fedor was the favorite, but now it’s over. He’ll come more cautious this time, more respectful and, once again, I’ll cheer so that Werdum wins. Besides all that, he’s a Brazilian, so if he wins, he’ll bring another great win for our country, so I want him to win.

 

About the heavyweight of UFC, how do you see the domain of Brock Lesnar, who is coming from a surprisingly win over Shane Carwin, and the growth of Junior Cigano?

 

Lesnar had a hard time on the first round, but got the guy on the second. I think that if (Shane) Carwin had a little more conditioning, he would have got the win. I don’t believe that Brock Lesnar deserves to be considered the number one of the ranking because I think that, if Werdum beat the number one, the right thing would be for him to become the number one. How can you beat the number one and be considered number two? I think this ranking is kind of crazy sometimes… There’s no way of a guy fighting only six times and becoming the number one of the ranking. And what about the history Fedor made in MMA? Just because of one loss, now he’s number three and a guy with only six fights on his professional record is the number one. That’s crazy, man. About Cigano, I’m sure he’ll be the next champion of Ultimate. He’s young, has a lot of disposition, has a sharp Boxing, it’s hard to put him down and I’m sure Cigano will become the next champion of UFC. The only one how can make a tough fight with him is (Cain) Velasquez, who is a complete fighter, a good wrestler, bangs quite well, has a good ground game… But I’m sure Cigano will become the champion of this division. I’m sure he’s back in Brazil and will spend some time with his family and then come back to the trainings and I know he’ll become the champion

 

HT: Tatame.com