Big man Antonio Silva (biography, photo, video). Antonio Silva (all fights) Brazilian bigfoot

Antonio Silva (born September 14, 1979) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competed in the UFC heavyweight division. He is a former EliteXC Heavyweight Champion, a former Cage Rage Champion and a former Cage Warriors Champion. He also performed in such promotions as K-1 Hero's, BodogFIGHT, Strikeforce and World Victory Road.

Antonio Silva, better known in MMA as “Bigfoot,” was born on September 14, 1979 in the Brazilian city of Campina Grande, where he has lived throughout his life. The fighter has excellent data for his weight category, his height is 193 centimeters, but this is due to the fact that Antonio has a serious disease called acromegaly. This disease entails dysfunction of the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland, which in turn can be accompanied by a pathological enlargement of the skull, hands, feet and even the facial part. But the disease did not prevent Antonio from becoming a professional MMA fighter.

He began his career in the Wolfslair MMA Academy team, where he competed from 2005 to 2006, after which in 2006 he moved to the American Top Team, of which he is a member to this day.

Silva began his professional career in England, competing against Georgian fighter Tengiz Tedoradze, and after 2 fights became the Cage Rage heavyweight champion.

Very soon, Silva brought his record to an impressive seven victories in a row, all of which he won ahead of schedule. Silva suffered his first defeat in December 2006 to Eric Pele at the BodogFight: USA vs. Russia.

This was followed by 6 wins in a row and a fight with Fabricio Werdum under the auspices of Strikeforce in November 2009. “Bigfoot” lost this fight by unanimous decision.

This was followed by 2 victories in a row - a decision over Andrei Arlovski, and a TKO victory over Mike Kyle, which provided “Bigfoot” with access to the fight with Fedor Emelianenko.

This fight took place in February 2011, and the Brazilian heavyweight defeated Fedor by technical knockout.

In the semifinals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, “Bigfoot” lost to Daniel Cormier by knockout, and after that he moved to the UFC. Silva lost his UFC debut by TKO to Cain Velasquez at UFC 146 in May 2012.

After this defeat, “Bigfoot” rehabilitated himself by defeating such fighters as Alistair Overeem and Travis Brown ahead of schedule, and again reached the title.

However, the rematch with Velasquez was again unsuccessful, as the fighter again lost by technical knockout.

Silva's next fight was against Mark Hunt in December 2013 in Australia. The heavyweights staged a real war in the cage, and the fight was awarded a bonus as “Fight of the Night.” The result of the fight was initially a draw, but was later changed to a no contest because Silva failed a post-fight test. “Bigfoot” was found to have inflated levels of testosterone, and the fighter was suspended from competition for 9 months.

After this, a black streak came for the fighter. He won only one fight in his next seven appearances. Silva defeated Soa Palelei by TKO, and lost to such fighters as Andrei Arlovski, Frank Mir, Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson.

Silva’s last fight to date was in Russia against Ivan Shtyrkov in November 2016, and lost by decision.

Antonio Silva (born September 14, 1979) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competed in the UFC heavyweight division. He is a former EliteXC Heavyweight Champion, a former Cage Rage Champion and a former Cage Warriors Champion. He also performed in such promotions as K-1 Hero's, BodogFIGHT, Strikeforce and World Victory Road.

Antonio Silva, better known in MMA as “Bigfoot,” was born on September 14, 1979 in the Brazilian city of Campina Grande, where he has lived throughout his life. The fighter has excellent data for his weight category, his height is 193 centimeters, but this is due to the fact that Antonio has a serious disease called acromegaly. This disease entails dysfunction of the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland, which in turn can be accompanied by a pathological enlargement of the skull, hands, feet and even the facial part. But the disease did not prevent Antonio from becoming a professional MMA fighter.

He began his career in the Wolfslair MMA Academy team, where he competed from 2005 to 2006, after which in 2006 he moved to the American Top Team, of which he is a member to this day.

Silva began his professional career in England, competing against Georgian fighter Tengiz Tedoradze, and after 2 fights became the Cage Rage heavyweight champion.

Very soon, Silva brought his record to an impressive seven victories in a row, all of which he won ahead of schedule. Silva suffered his first defeat in December 2006 to Eric Pele at the BodogFight: USA vs. Russia.

This was followed by 6 wins in a row and a fight with Fabricio Werdum under the auspices of Strikeforce in November 2009. “Bigfoot” lost this fight by unanimous decision.

This was followed by 2 victories in a row - a decision over Andrei Arlovski, and a TKO victory over Mike Kyle, which provided “Bigfoot” with access to the fight with Fedor Emelianenko.

This fight took place in February 2011, and the Brazilian heavyweight defeated Fedor by technical knockout.

In the semifinals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, “Bigfoot” lost to Daniel Cormier by knockout, and after that he moved to the UFC. Silva lost his UFC debut by TKO to Cain Velasquez at UFC 146 in May 2012.

After this defeat, “Bigfoot” rehabilitated himself by defeating such fighters as Alistair Overeem and Travis Brown ahead of schedule, and again reached the title.

However, the rematch with Velasquez was again unsuccessful, as the fighter again lost by technical knockout.

Silva's next fight was against Mark Hunt in December 2013 in Australia. The heavyweights staged a real war in the cage, and the fight was awarded a bonus as “Fight of the Night.” The result of the fight was initially a draw, but was later changed to a no contest because Silva failed a post-fight test. “Bigfoot” was found to have inflated levels of testosterone, and the fighter was suspended from competition for 9 months.

After this, a black streak came for the fighter. He won only one fight in his next seven appearances. Silva defeated Soa Palelei by TKO, and lost to such fighters as Andrei Arlovski, Frank Mir, Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson.

Silva’s last fight to date was in Russia against Ivan Shtyrkov in November 2016, and lost by decision.

Antonio Silva is a Brazilian athlete who competes in mixed martial arts. Tall and massive, he wins victories over more agile and athletic opponents thanks to his weight and skillful wrestling tactics. There are many failures in his career, but he also has many brilliant fights, even despite the fact that at the same time he is forced to fight a serious illness.

Antonio Carlos Silva was born on September 14, 1979 in Brazil, in the city of Campina Grande. In many versions of the fighter’s biography, there is a mention that he grew up in a poor family and had difficulty finding the opportunity to train in his youth. After school, Silva worked as a car salesman, then as a cash collector, and only after moving with his family to Liverpool was he able to start playing sports professionally.

Martial arts

Antonio acquired the nickname Bigfoot (Bigfoot) due to his appearance. The athlete suffers from acromegaly - a lesion of the anterior pituitary gland, due to which the hands, feet and skull bones disproportionately enlarge, and facial features become coarser.

Emerging athlete Antonio Silva (left)

If you compare photos of Silva with a difference of 5-7 years, you can see how his appearance is changing - his chin, nose, and ears are growing. He is truly a huge fighter, standing at 193 cm tall and weighing 120 kg, with an arm span of 2.03 m and a foot size of 49. To compensate for the lack of speed and reaction, Silva had to develop a special fighting technique that combines karate and jiu-jitsu techniques.

Antoniou's fighting career began in 2005. He began performing as part of the English club Wolfslair MMA Academy. A year after the fight with Tadas Rinkevičius, Silva returned to Brazil.

In 2006, he became a member of the American Top Team. Antoniou's first partner was the Georgian fighter Tengiz Teodoradze. The victory won by the Brazilian turned out to be very spectacular, and after 3 more successful fights, Silva received the status of Cage Rage champion in the heavy weight category and brought the record to 7 victories in a row, with all fights won ahead of schedule.

After one defeat to Eric Pele, he began a new winning streak of 6 wins in a row: Bigfoot defeated Fabricio Werdum and Michael Kyle. The victory over the Russian heavyweight was significant for the fighter. Then Antonio won by technical knockout - doctors discovered an extensive eye hematoma in the Russian athlete and forbade him to continue the fight.

Fight Antonio Silva and Fedor Emelianenko

After the fight, Silva spoke with his former opponent at an official reception and subsequently spoke of Emelianenko with warmth and respect. When Fedor announced that he wanted to end his career, the Brazilian wrote to him in "Instagram" :

"The Last Emperor, never give up..."

In the semi-finals of the Strikeforce Grand Prix tournament, after the fight with Emelianenko, Silva was scheduled to meet with, but the fight did not take place - Alistair left the competition, citing injury. Instead, he went to Antonio. Experts considered Bigfoot the main contender for the championship title, but he was knocked out in the first round and dropped out.

Antonio Silva vs Cain Velasquez fight

Silva moved to the UFC in 2012. He lost his debut fight - the American knocked him out in the final round. Later, Antonio tried to take revenge, but failed, but then quickly recovered, winning victories over Alistair Overeem and Travis Browne.

In 2013, Antonio entered the ring against. The aggressive heavyweight fight was the best fight of the evening and formally ended in a draw, but Silva unexpectedly failed doping tests conducted after the end of the competition. Doctors found a highly elevated level of testosterone in his blood, which indicated the use of anabolic steroids. The fighter was punished by being suspended from participation in fights for a year and fined $2.5 thousand, and the results of the fight with Hunt were annulled.

Antonio Silva vs Mark Hunt fight

Manager Antoniou cited the athlete’s illness as the reason for the doping scandal - allegedly the drug Novadex, which belongs to the class of steroids, he takes for acromegaly. He emphasized that Silva is forced to spend from $6 thousand to $8 thousand a month just on medications to maintain his health.

This defeat marked the beginning of a dark streak in Silva's career. When he returned to the ring, he was able to win only one of the next 7 fights - with Soa Palelei. After losing to Frank Mir, he suffered for a long time and took a break to rethink what had happened and start his career anew.

“It was terrible,” Antoniou lamented in an interview. “I didn’t do anything that I prepared for this fight.”

Soon the athlete decided to leave the UFC. He was offered a contract with the Russian promotion Fight Nights, which Silva was very happy about: this promised not only new career prospects, but also financial prospects. Regarding the illness, Bigfoot said that he feels great after a successful operation, and in the new organization the fighter received permission to use TRT, a testosterone replacement therapy that the UFC banned for its members.

In 2016, Silva, as part of his contract, competed in Yekaterinburg, where he fought with. The audience warmly supported the Brazilian, but the victory still went to the Russian. However, it came at a high price for him: after the fight, Ivan remained lying in the ring, where he received medical assistance for about half an hour. Shtyrkov also could not take part in the press conference after the battle.

Fight between Antonio Silva and Ivan Shtyrkov

In 2017, Antonio performed in China at a professional kickboxing tournament. The fight with heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven was unsuccessful: the enemy was much superior to Bigfoot in agility and speed, so most of the UFC veteran’s punches were “idle.” Under Verhoeven's pressure, he repeatedly lost his balance, and in the last round he missed a blow to the head and lost.

Personal life

Antonio Silva is married. His wife's name is Paula Aranya, and together they are raising three children.

According to the athlete, he rarely sees his loved ones due to his intense training regime - Bigfoot has not yet completed his contract with Fight Nights, and he is forced to stay in Russia, while his wife, daughters and son live in Brazil. Antonio misses them very much and hopes that in the near future he will be able to devote more time to his personal life and raising his children.

Antonio Silva now

Today, the fighter continues to engage in mixed martial arts and, according to him, intends to hold out for about 2 more years. At the beginning of 2018, Silva suffered a knee injury and it took more than six months to recover, but he has now resumed training.

With retirement just around the corner, Antoniou is thinking about what to do after leaving the ring. The Brazilian’s plans include opening his own gym, where he plans to teach children the art of jiu-jitsu.

Titles and awards

• 2005 – Elite Xtreme Combat Champion
• 2013 – Contender for the UFC heavyweight title

Date of birth: 09/14/1979
Height: 190 cm
Weight: 120 kg

Antonio Silva is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who, after starting his career as a super heavyweight, changed his category to heavyweight. He performed for some time in the now closed EliteXC organization and became its only champion in his weight category. This fighter is remembered for his victories over such world-famous fighters as Fedor Emelianenko, Ricco Rodriguez, Andrei Orlovsky and Alistair Overeem.

Brief biography of Antonio Silva

Antonio Silva, better known in martial arts as Bigfoot, was born on September 14, 1979 in the Brazilian city of Campina Grande, where he has lived throughout his life. The fighter has excellent data for his weight category, his height is 193 centimeters, but despite this, it turns out that Antonio has a serious disease called acromegaly. This disease entails dysfunction of the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland, which in turn can be accompanied by a pathological enlargement of the skull, hands, feet and even the facial part. But the disease did not prevent Antonio from mastering several fighting styles at once. He was very successful in the following styles:

• karate;
• Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu;
• Muay Thai;
• judo.

He began his career in the Academy team, where he played from 2005 to 2006, after which in 2006 he moved to the American Top Team, of which he is a member to this day.

Achievements in mixed martial arts

In less than 10 years of his career, Antonio Silva managed to take part in such organizations as Hero's, BodogFight and Elite Xtreme Combat, and in both of them he won the champion title in his weight category. Today he fights in such organizations like Strikeforce and Sengoku. Antonio Silva has 21 fights, of which 17 victories over opponents of different levels and defeats. Antonio suffered defeat at the hands of Eric Pele, but there is an opinion that the fight was stopped prematurely. In addition, Antonio had defeats in fights with Fabrizio Werdum with a small margin of one point and with Daniel Cormier, who defeated Antonio by knockout.Another defeat of Antonio occurred in a fight with Cain Velasquez, then the victory was awarded to the opponent as a result of a technical knockout.

A very big breakthrough in Antonio Silva’s career was his fight in the quarterfinals of the Strikeforce Grand Prix tournament. In this fight, he had to meet with a fighter from Russia, Fedor Emelianenko, whom Antonio defeated in the fifth minute of the second round by technical knockout. Since Emelianenko developed a huge hematoma in the area of ​​his right eye during the fight, so the doctors forbade him to continue the fight. After winning the quarterfinals, Antonio faced a serious semifinal fight with Alistair Overeem. But since the opponent pulled out of the fight, allegedly due to a serious injury, the opponent was replaced. The place of the Dutchman Alistair was taken by the no less promising fighter Daniel Cormier. Despite the fact that Antonio was considered the favorite in this fight, Daniel managed to win by knockout.

The most difficult and serious fight in Antonio Silva’s career is considered to be the fight with Cain Velasquez. Already in the first seconds of the fight, Kane managed to knock Antonio down and inflict a severe cut on him. It was the cut that became the main reason for Antonio’s defeat, since due to severe bleeding he was unable to continue the fight.

Antonio Silva's fight statistics

In total, Antonio Silva fought 21 fights during his career, as already indicated, he won 17 of them and lost only 4. He won the most victories, namely 12, by knocking out his opponent, 3 victories were obtained using a painful hold and 2 by decision of the judges.

If you are interested in information about Antonio Silva's opponents or other MMA fighters, you can find it by following the link.

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