Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva will fight for the heavyweight title at UFC 160. | Photo: Sherdog.com
Alistair Overeem’s loss turned into Antonio Silva’s gain.
Velasquez’s pairing with Silva will serve as a rematch of their one-sided UFC 146 encounter in which the American Kickboxing Academy ace grounded and gashed “Bigfoot” with devastating ground-and-pound en route to a bloody first-round technical knockout. Velasquez used the performance as a springboard in December, as he avenged his 2011 defeat to dos Santos and reclaimed the heavyweight title in a dominant unanimous decision at UFC 155.
Three years older than the champion, Silva has posted back-to-back victories since his ill-fated duel with Velasquez. He finished the previously unbeaten Travis Browne in October before throwing the oddsmakers a serious curveball in his UFC 156 battle with Overeem on Feb. 2. There, Silva scored a spectacular third-round knockout, stopping a fatigued an overconfident “Demolition Man” with a ferocious volley of power punches just 25 seconds into the final frame. The defeat was Overeem’s first since 2007.
The stories of interest on Sherdog.com this week:
Heavyweight Rematch
Phenomenal Pairing
Price of Gold
Axing Wrestling
His Own Man
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