Bigfoot a hero in Russia, earns 200k

Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva went 1-6 with one No Contest in his last eight fights, and was released from his contract. All six losses were via T/KO. Now 37, his future appeared to be fighting for woefully low sums, with dim prospects for the future.

However, super manager Alex Davis appeared recently on MMAJunkie Radio, and discussed Bigfoot’s reborn career in Russia, where Titov Boxing Promotion paid him $200,000.

I think we found a new reality for ‘Bigfoot,’ said Davis, as transcribed by Brent Cristelli for MMA Mania. They were extremely well-treated. Everything was perfect. We had no complaints whatsoever [except] for the judging of the fight.

Silva’s fellow ATT fighter Jeff Monson had a poor experience with Titov Boxing, but Bigfoot has Davis looking out for his interests.

A lot of people in the media started shooting at me, saying I was a lousy manager because I was sending him out there in the jungle in Russia and they’d done that to Jeff, and we were worried. But, it just so happens that none of that was true.

The fight with the undefeated Ivan Shtyrkov was officiated controversially. It could have been stopped in the second went Silva went through the ropes. It could have been stopped in the third when Silva landed a huge shot; however, the ref stopped to give Shtyrkov his mouthpiece and provided a long rest.

The only thing they didn’t do was give [Shtyrkov] Oxygen, said Davis. They gave him five minutes to recuperate, which is wrong on their end. But, there’s no athletic commission, all the refs are Russian, so if you fight in Russia, you’ve got to finish the fight.

Everybody in Russia remembers him against Fedor. He’s got a big following in Russia that we didn’t realize. Even at this fight, when they gave the decision to the Russian, the crowd booed. He’s a hero there, so he gets a second breath in his career. He’s going to fight again.

He’ll fight a few more times in Russia, and he’ll make some good money. They’re paying better than in other markets, so you’ll see him fight again, for sure.

Next fight for Titov Boxing could be vs. former Bellator heavyweight champion Vitaly Minakov.