Antônio Bigfoot mounted on Fedor at Strikeforce in 2011 / Photo by Dan Rod
The UFC isn’t playing around; it just keeps cranking out enticing cards for the coming year. The big news this Wednesday is the match-up between gigantic Brazilian Antônio “Bigfoot” Silva and monstrous Dutchman Alistair Overeem. And what GRACIEMAG.com wants to know is what your opinion on the battle is: can Bigfoot pull it off? Or is he still stuck with underdog status when matched with the former Strikeforce champion?
Battle postponed
The heavyweights will square off at UFC 156, on February 2, in Las Vegas. The two nearly faced each other once before, when their paths were crossed in the semifinals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix of last year. Overeem exited the promotion before the fight could happen, though.
Once he’d made the move to the UFC, Bigfoot showed his valiance right off the bat, agreeing to take on Cain Velasquez in May of this year. After a gruesomely bloody and one-sided exchange, the Brazilian succumbed to the knockout. In his second fight, in October, however, he recovered his top-fighter standing by beating the game Travis Browne, a towering Hawaiian who was riding a 12-fight win streak at the time.
Now Overeem, formerly of Pride FC, K-1 and Strikeforce, hadn’t tasted defeat in eight fights. He will now be making his first appearance since receiving a one-year ban for the use of illicit substances. The Dutchman’s last fight in the UFC was also his first: a win over now-retired Brock Lesnar in December 2011.
UFC 156 will be headlined by José Aldo and Frankie Edgar.
Is Overeem the hands-down favorite? What route might the Jiu-Jitsu black belt take to upset his hard-hitting-striker opponent?
Comment below.
