‘Big Foot’ Silva: After Knock out, he is my friend now

Rage, fury, and ferocity were all on display this past Saturday, at a level that perhaps only Heavyweight fights can deliver, as Antonio ‘Big Foot’ Silva demolished Alistair Overeemin the third round of their bout on UFC 156. After two rounds that were mostly fought on the mat, and dominated by Overeem, Silva landed a barrage of punches that crumbled his opponent to the ground. It was a shocking, brutal and exhilarating win for Silva, who was largely insulted and disrespected by Overeem in the prefight press events leading up to the bout.

But if Silva had displayed his ferocious side in the octagon, he displayed a humorous, lighthearted one in discussing his fight with Overeem in the post fight press conference. “He talked a lot of bull#$% and #$% before the fight,” Silva would reply with a grin in his face when asked why he was so angry inside the cage at the conclusion of his bout. “The fight is inside the cage not outside. When they stopped the fight I was very excited, I just wanted to talk to him and say come on, get up.”

When asked about that third round and why he felt he took so long to get going in the fight, Silva would make note of Overeem’s lack of condition and courage as part of the reason he found such great success in the final round.  “I work hard in the gym, and we know Overeem doesn’t have a good cardio, or heart. When he punches he is a lion, but when I punch him, he is a cat. In the final round my corner said, when you use the right, he move his head, so throw two times, right and then uppercut; I did that and got him. “

Silva would also be questioned about Overeem’s attitude after the fight; he would promptly fill the room with laughter with his reply which he delivered with a wide grin… “Yes, after Knock out he is my friend now.”

As for the future, Big Foot just wants to get back in the ring and fight the best, if that means a second fight with UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, to whom he lost last year, Silva is ready to do it again. “I just want to fight the best and the best heavyweights are here in the UFC. If the UFC gives me another opportunity to fight Cain Velasquez it would be a pleasure. “