Antonio Silva

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 EliteXC
4 Steroids Controversy and Sengoku
5 Mixed martial arts record
6 Gallery
7 External links

Profile

Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva (born September 14, 1979) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who fights out of American Top Team.

He stands 6 ft. 4 in. (192 cm) tall and fights in the heavyweight division at approximately 265 lbs..

He was the first and only EliteXC heavyweight champion and currently fights as a heavyweight for World Victory Road's Sengoku brand.

Silva suffers from a condition called Acromegaly, which reults in the enlargement of facial and body features because of a tumor in his pituitary gland.

Early Career

Antonio Silva made his professional mixed martial arts debut on the March 6, 2005 against Tengiz Tedoradze at a UKMMAC event. Silva defeated his opponent, via TKO at :48 of round 1.

Silva began his career in the super heavyweight division and defeated the likes Ruben Villareal and Tom Erikson in various promotions such as Cage Rage and K-1 Hero's throughout the majority of 2005 and 2006.

On December 2, 2006, Silva suffered his first professional defeat at the hands of Eric Pele at BodogFIGHT: USA vs. Russia. Silva looked good early but was dropped by Pele two minutes in and quickly TKO'd.

EliteXC

Silva signed with EliteXC and made his debut on their inaugural event, EliteXC: Destiny. He faced UFC veteran, Wesley "Cabbage" Correira in a super heavyweight bout on the event's main card.

Silva made quick work of Cabbage defeating him via TKO at 3:39 of round 1.

At EliteXC: Renegade, Silva returned against another UFC veteran, Jonathan Wiezorek. The bout was held in the super heavyweight division although Silva weighed in at the heavyweight limit of 265 lbs. Silva destroyed the inept Wiezorek via rear naked choke in 3:12.

A little over three months after the Wiezorek victory, Silva returned to the EliteXC cage, this time in the heavyweight division. His debut in the division came against former UFC heavyweight champion, Ricco Rodriguez. Silva entered the bout with a pre-existing knee injury and looked sloppy as he and Rodriguez battled to a razor thin split decision. The decision went in favor to Silva who pushed his record to 10-1.

On July 26, 2008 Silva faced off against former UFC heavyweight title challenger, Justin Eilers for the vacant EliteXC heavyweight championship. Silva dwarfed Eilers in the fight and the size advantage to Silva gave Eilers great difficulty. Eventually Silva prevailed in the 2nd round via TKO to take the title.

Steroids Controversy and Sengoku

After the Eilers fight, the California State Athletic Commission found Silva guilty of using the banned anabolic steroid, Boldenone. Silva was fined $2,500 and suspended from fighting for a year.

Silva and his camp disputed the claims, saying that due to his Acromegaly he would not have been able to take the substance without severe risk to his well being. They also claimed that his condition produced a substance in his body that could quite possibly cause a false positive to occur in testing.

Silva was denied on appeal and decided to fight in Japan, rather than sit out a year. The CSAC claimed that if he did fight outside the country he would risk having his fighter license in the US revoked. "Bigfoot" opted to fight in Japan anyway and faced off against Yoshihiro Nakao at Sengoku: Seventh Battle on January 4th, 2009. Nakao blew out his knee 1:42 into the first round and Silva was awarded the TKO victory.