His first appearance at UFC in May was a disaster. Ex-champ Cain Velasquez made his face a bloody mess at UFC 146. And almost a year earlier, his hope to win the Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament was wiped out by a big punch delivered by Daniel Cormier in the semifinals.
His memorable victory against the legend Fedor Emelianenko seems to be happened centuries ago.
Now Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (16-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) wants to forget the recent past and comeback to victory.
Friday at Target Center in Minneapolis in the main event of UFC on FX 5, he will face a rising giant, the 6-foot-7 undefeated Travis Browne (13-0-1 MMA, 4-0-1 UFC).
Silva (6-foot-4, anyway) said: “I’m coming into this fight with a lot of anger from the last few situations that I’ve been in, but I’m very excited and motivated to get my first UFC win.”
Travis “Hapa” Browne is best known for his Superman-punch knockout of Stefan Struve at UFC 130 — a victory that holds up to this day because the towering Dutchman remains a solid contender at heavyweight, after the solid victory against Stipe Miocic. The execution of this move showed a pair of stunning attributes: athleticism and power.
Bigfoot, the first and last EliteXC heavyweight champion, is very confident about hi possibilities: “I think Travis Browne is a good fighter, but I don’t know if Travis is in the top 10 based off his last three opponents, but other than that, I believe that after this victory, I’ll be among the top five or six heavyweights in the UFC. I’m not too worried about what he’s going to do and how he is because I’m very good right now mentally and physically.I believe that when I’m mentally strong and physically strong, there’s not many people in the world that can hold me back.”
UFC on FX 5 fight card:
MAIN CARD
Travis Browne vs Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva
Jake Ellenberger vs Jay Hieron
Jussier ‘Formiga’ da Silva vs John Dodson
Josh Neer vs Justin Edwards
PRELIMINARY CARD
Jeremy Stephens vs Yves Edwards
Danny Castillo vs Michael Johnson
Dennis Hallman vs Thiago Tavares
Jacob Volkmann vs Shane Roller
Diego Nunes vs Bart Palaszewski
Darren Uyenoyama vs Phil Harris
Marcus LeVesseur vs Carlo Prater
Aaron Simpson vs Mike Pierce
Event: UFC on FX 5: Browne vs Bigfoot
Date: 2012-10-05
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Video:
Travis Browne’s “Workday” part 1/2
Travis Browne’s “Workday” part 2/2
