Big Foot enters to fight. Photo: Carlos Ozório.
Brazil’s Antonio “Big Foot” Silva predicted the outcome of his fight against Fedor Emelianenko here on GRACIEMAG.com: “I expect to end the fight raining down blows on him from top position.” And that’s just what he did this Saturday night in New Jersey.
Big Foot got the takedown in the second round, used his Jiu-Jitsu well and punished the Russian from the top. From the beating, Fedor ‘s right eye closed up completely, and he was deemed unfit to return to battle by the doctor. Now the Brazilian awaits the winner of the fight between Fabrício Werdum and Alistair Overeem in the next stage of the GP.
“A lot of folks see this big chin and think it will be easier to knock me out. But this here is like a bumper on a trick!”
Check out what Big Foot had to say after the fight, images from behind the scenes, and another exclusive GRACIEMAG.com interview:
Jiu-Jitsu
“I train a lot of Jiu-Jitsu and no one had seen my potential on the ground yet. I tried using it a lot against Fedor, but he’s one of the best in the world.”
“His strength on the ground is the armbar, but I didn’t get in his guard. I knew I’d do better if I kept him from using it.”
Striking
“He got me in the first round. After that, I was certain he wasn’t going to knock me out.”
Size counts
“My weight along with my technique helped a lot. I read an interview where it said he has the strength of a bear, but I have the strength of Big Foot!”
Werdum or Overeem?
“I don’t pick, I fight anyone. I don’t like fighting Brazilians, but I’m rooting for Werdum to beat Overeem. The good part is that the final will have a Brazilian for sure.
Strategy
“When I pushed him up against the cage he was breathing hard. I knew I’d win if I could take him down.”
Beating Fedor
“The guy showed he’s the best for ten years. Now they’re going to say he wasn’t that good? Anyone with a mouth can say what they want, but they also hear to what they don’t want to hear.”
“Werdum and I showed there’s no such thing as superman or robocop. Werdum started it and I proved it was a fairy tale.”
