FIGHTER BIO: AntonioSilva

antoniosilva — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 0:30:00 PDT

FIGHTER’S NAME: ANTONIO SILVA

Nickname: Bigfoot

Height: 6'4''

Fighting Weight: 275 lbs.

Age: 26

Born: Brasilia, Brazil

Resides and fights out of: Coconut Creek, Florida

MMA Record: 8-1

Wins: 7 (T)KOs and 1 submission

Losses: 1 TKO

Fight Team: American Top Team

Head Trainer: Ricardo Liborio

Fighting Style: Muay Thai/Jiu-Jitsu

Bio: Standing 6’4” tall and normally weighing over 300 pounds, you wouldn’t think Antonio Silva would be very agile or capable of doing much outside of lumbering around the ring, but you’d be wrong. Possessing an unbelievable amount of agility, speed and quickness Silva has dominated each and every one of his opponents in his eight MMA wins. Using his exceptional Muay Thai skills, Antonio has finished off seven of his victories by KO in the first round and 1 verbal submission when the corner through in the towel for a total of about 21 minutes of action.

After mainly fighting in British fight promotions such as Cage Warriors and Cage Rage, Silva made the trip to Japan for K-1 for two fights before fighting in December of 2006 for the BodogFIGHT show, where he lost his only fight. Silva bounced back at the debut of MMA on Showtime as part of February’s EliteXC event where he dominated Wesley “Cabbage” Correira, hurting the big man with a devastating knee to the head and then following him to ground and pounding out a TKO stoppage.

Storyline: Silva was last scheduled to fight on FEG's USA Dynamite!! show in Los Angeles this past June but was taken off the card and medically suspended after licensing exams administered by the California State Athletic Commission's doctors revealed a tumor near his pituitary gland. It's believed that the tumor was the reason for Silva's unusual size for a man of his height. Per the commission's recommendation, Silva had the tumor surgically removed and this will be his first fight since the procedure.

Silva is coming into this fight at a lean and mean 275 lbs and says he wants to fight at heavyweight (265 Max) in the future because there are better fights in that weight class.

Fight History:

· 2/10/07 in Southaven, Mississippi def. Wesley “Cabbage” Correira by TKO at 3:49 of Round 1 due to referee stoppage from strikes. After a brief feeling out period on the feet, Silva started to take over the fight, outstriking the hard-headed Hawaiian. Silva landed a flying knee to the chin of Cabbage, following him to the mat and finishing him off with a ferocious ground and pound attack that caused the referee to stop the fight.

· 12/2/06 in Vancouver, BC Canada lost to Eric Pele via TKO at 2:40 in Round 1 when the referee stopped the fight after Silva was deemed unable to defend himself on the ground. For the first two minutes of the fight Silva used fast, crisp punches and kicks to systematically dismantle Pele until Eric landed a hook to the side of Silva’s head sending him to the mat. Pele quickly fallowed up with several unanswered strikes on the ground and the referee was forced to step in and call a halt to the bout. After the stoppage Silva’s corner rushed the referee in protest of the stoppage, even though Silva was clearly discombobulated and non-responsive to Pele’s attacks.

· 5/3/06 in Tokyo, Japan def. Tom “Big Cat” Erikson by TKO at 2:49 of Round 1 when the referee called a stop to the action when Erikson was unable to defend himself. The two fighters went to the ground early when Tom attempted to engage Silva. Antonio’s weight was too much for Tom to handle, and Silva managed to stay in top position throughout the fight, landing shots to Erikson almost at will. At just under the 3-minute mark the referee was forced to step in and stop the fight to prevent the helpless Erikson from continued pummeling.

· 11/26/05 in Coventry, England def. Ruben “Warpath” Villareal by TKO at 3:07 of Round 1 due to referee stoppage to claim the Cage Warriors Super-Heavyweight Championship. After the two fighters exchanged punches and leg kicks, Silva clinches Villareal and uses his 40lb weight advantage to maneuver Warpath to the canvas. In side control Silva reigns down blows to Warpath’s face before transitioning to knee-ride for a second barrage of strikes. Villareal is unable to defend himself so the referee steps in and calls a halt to the bout, giving Silva the Championship.

Scouting Report:

Strengths…

· Silva has unbelievable agility for a man of his size. He looks like a big cat in some of his movements.

· Power is usually a given in the super heavyweight division but it seems like he has even more strength than a big fighter typically has.

· While he's a good striker, he has worked very hard on his submission skills. He's yet to really display them in a fight, he certainly hasn't been neglecting them in his training.

· Very aggressive fighter who looks to finish fights wherever they go.

Weaknesses…

· How will Silva perform after an extended layoff? Surgery was performed to remove the tumor from his head so what kind of after effects will there be?

· After getting knocked out by Eric Pele during a BodogFIGHT show, some questions arose in regard to his chin. Did he simply get caught, or does he have a glass jaw?

· Silva's fights usually don't last long but he's so big and is so aggressive that one has to wonder how much gas he'll have in the tank if the fight were to make it past the first round.

· Has never had an extended opportunity to display his grappling skills for an extended duration in a fight.

Personal/Factoid:

· Was forced to wait many months to train at the American Top Team facilities in Florida after officially joining the team due to visa issues.

· Prior to MMA, worked as security for armored cars.

· Started training in Karate at the age of 13.

· Trained briefly with the Brazilian Top Team and still, on occasion, trains with the Nogueira brothers, Antonio Rodrigo and Antonio Rodgerio.

· Began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Campina Grande in 1997 with Eli Wanderlay.

· Nickname “Pez„o” means “Big Foot” in Portuguese. On the origin of his nickname: “That’s because my feet are really big. I was a skinny guy, and my foot was larger than the rest of my body.”

· MMA idols are the Nogueira brothers. On what is was like training with his idols: “It’s fantastic because it’s the most complete training session I ever saw. Rogerio is an excellent boxer and Rodrigo is very good on the ground, so I think this is what every fighter needs to be – a good striker and grappler.”

antoniosilva's ProElite.com Blog

FIGHTER BIO: AntonioSilva