Silva: I have a chin like a truck bumper, and the stength of a bigfoot
He got me in the first round (with strikes). After that, I was certain he wasn’t going to knock me…
He got me in the first round (with strikes). After that, I was certain he wasn’t going to knock me out.
When I pushed him up against the cage he was breathing hard. I knew I’d win if I could take him down.
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.
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 what they don’t want to hear.
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 Bigfoot!
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 truck!
Werdum and I showed there’s no such thing as superman or robocop. Werdum started it and I proved it was a fairy tale.
Watch entire interview… (original Portuguese)
Ariel Helwani: How do you feel?
Antonio Silva: I am very very happy right now. This is the fruit of a lot of hard work with my camp. With all the guys who trained hard with me. I am very very happy
AH: Were your surprise the doctor stopped the fight?
AS: Yes, but when I looked across the ring I saw his eye was very swollen. I would have caused more damage to his eye and ended up hurting him bad.
AH: Are you aware whether he asked for it to be stopped or was it the doctors?
AS: It cetainly wasn’t him. He has fought the best. he has beat the best. He wouldn’t ask to be stopped. It had to be the doctor.
AH: Should the refereee have stopped the fight?
AS: I dont think so a good fighter has to fight the good and the bad. He is an excellent fighter. He knows how to weather the storm.
AH: Do you feel as though you fought the best fedor?
AS: Yes I thinks so. But I also worked very hard. I trained very hard for this fight. I deserve the win
AH: Do you feel as though you proved a lot of doubters wrong tonight?
AS: It takes a while. You have to beat the best. I have shown the world I can do it. You have to keep on fighting to be the best.
AH: Do you think he will retire?
AS: No I dont think so. I think he has a lot to show still. I think he will come back and fight again. I think he will come back better
AH: Who do you want next Overeem or Werdum?
AS: I wouldn’t like to fight werdum he is Brazilain, he is my friend. But at the same time I am going to cheer for him very much to make sure the final is a Brazilian final.
—
In order to have a Bigfoot vs. Overeem all Brazilian final to the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament, the current brackets would have to be amended.
Silva of course moved forward to the semi finals last night, as did Sergei Kharitonov, who scored a first-round knockout of former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski.
The second set of opening-round matchups take place April 9 with Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem taking on Brazilian Fabricio Werdum, and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers.
Should Werdum get by Overeem, with a switch of the bracket, Bigfoot could face the winner of Barnett vs. Rogers, or Sergei Kharitonov. Should both Brazilians be successful in that semi-final round, they could face each other in the finals. This scenario requires several what ifs, but then, who thought Fedor would be crushed last night?