By Guilherme Cruz
from TATAME
Antonio Bigfoot Silva was just playing a supporting role on Strikeforces heavyweight GP, but after defeating Fedor Emelianenko on its quarterfinals, hell decide with Alistair Overeem wholl have a vacancy on its finale.
On an exclusive interview given to TATAME, which you can read by clicking here, Bigfoot analyzed the bout against Overeem, but revealed he wished to dispute the tournaments finale against Josh Barnett, wholl face Sergei Kharitonov on the other semifinal bout.
Id really like that, defeating Overeem, do the finale against him because its a personal issue that we got to go through, said Bigfoot. Ill never bring my feelings into the ring, because then you ruin all your game plan. But, Ill set a good game plan and well solve this personal issue, just me and him. But Im not thinking about Josh right now.
Check below the exclusive interview with Bigfoot, who also comment on Fabricio Werdums performance against Alistair Overeem and asked the fans to pray for Vitor Mirandas son, whos on a hospital on the United States.
What are your thoughts about the fight between Overeem and Werdum, which defined your next opponent?
I was hoping more of this fight. Due to the fact I know Overeem, I know hes an aggressive guy, I know he respected Werdum a lot, even because you have to after all hes done. He didnt want to fight on the ground against Werdum, and I guess everybody was hoping for a submission of knockout, but unfortunately neither of these things happened. Hes a Brazilian, a friend of mine and a good guy But, unfortunately, it happened. Someone wins and someone loses, but life goes on.
Were you surprised by Werdums posture, of trying to pull Overeem to his guard all the time?
Man, on the first round, Ill tell you he did the right thing. I have told him before that Overeem would get a little tired on the second and third rounds. On the first minutes of the fight, you can really go for it against him because hes much dangerous, he has his full power, hes strong, hes muscle But, on the second and third round, hed slow it down. It was what we all saw. On some moments Werdum went for it and couldve gotten the knockout, but Werdum was also tired. He didnt stay on the top, he didnt used his ground game at any moment, he didnt do the clinch work, so I guess that if Werdum had pushed it a little harder he would have got the win.
Do you believe this bout showed a weak point of Overeem, who was exhausted when the bout was over?
All fighters have weak and strong points, not only him. Every single one of us. Were human beings. And Ill tell you something: he showed me the way. Ill get ready to do a good fight. Now I have to train just like I did for Fedor, or more. Because in case I train less than that, I wont feel confident. The difference is that I wont let Overeem rest for even a second, Ill impose my game. Of couse Ill respect him, since hes extremely dangerous. I wont make any mistake because, if you do so, hell knock you out. Hes a striker. But Ill not worry about him. Ill worry about me, with my trainings, my game polan and, with Gods blessing, everything will work out just fine.
Everybody pointed out Overeem as the one with the best striking Power on the heavyweight division, especially since he won K-1. Do you think he showed a not so good striking game this time, since he wasnt able to impose his game over Werdum?
As I said before, if Werdum had pushed it a little harder, he fit a good knee and some punches which brought Overeem dizzy and he stepped back If he had kept on moving forwards, he couldve knock him out. If he tried to get his legs, he could have taken him down and imposed his ground game, because Werdum is a legend on the ground game. But, unfortunately, he injured his knee, he was limping all the way back to the hotel. Its already complicated to strike with Overeem, especially when you have an injured knee. Its even more complicated. We cant take the credits of Overeem, but fighting while injured is pretty hard.
Ill do my job, set a great camp for this bout and Ill go for the win. I had told you before I fought Fedor that people were like: Fedor, Fedor And I used to say: guys, Id like to tell you Im not sitting at home eating pizza and drinking Coke and watching movies. I was training a lot and hes not a superman, hes a human being like any other. I love entering the octagon as the underdog, I like being booed at, it only motivates me and gives me the strength to go there and prove that Im not fighting MMA just to be another number and put some money in my pocket. Im there to fight and make some space for myself, and be among the best.
What are your thoughts about the other quarterfinals, between Josh Barnett and Brett Rogers? What do you hope of this semifinals between Barnett and Kharitonov?
Man, the bout between Josh and Brett Rogers I practically predicted what would happen. I have talked to Brett, I have told him and his coach: stay alert to your legs, he wont like to strike with you, he wont like to do the stand-up game with you and hell try to take you down with his good Wrestling. And its what I would do if I was fighting him: Id try to take him down and finish the fight. Credits to Josh, he could do it, he took him down pretty well. Hes a complete fighter, as I told you before. Hes good while striking, he has good Wrestling, he has a good ground game. Hes a complete fighter.
Now, on this tournament, I guess hes the most complete athlete. This bout against Kharitonov will be another tough one, he wont take him down that easily. Kharitonov, besides having heavy hands just like Brett, has a better posture while standing up, and is a better boxer. But Ill cheer for him, because Id really like that, defeating Overeem, do the finale against him because its a personal issue that we got to go through.
Ill never bring my feelings into the ring, because then you ruin all your game plan. But, Ill set a good game plan and well solve this personal issue, just me and him. But Im not thinking about Josh right now. Im focused in Overeem. Ive been training for a month now, thinking about Werdum and Overeem. In May I started to train and I spent three days a week training for fighting Werdum, and two days training in case Id fight Overeem. Ive started doing that in May, so its five months of preparation. Now Im focused on Overeem, on defeating him.
Ive said before that, in case I defeated Fedor, Id win this tournament, because Ive saw this bout against Fedor as a finale of the tournament to me. It was the toughest fight of the tournament, he was the most dangerous person in there, he was pointed out by everyone as the one to become its champion, and I fought him on my first bout on the tournament. That has given me extra motivation to train, to conquest this title. Now, if you want to beat me up, youll have to submit me or knock me out because I really want to win this tournament.
Did Strikeforce tell you anything about when youll fight next?
See, theyve told me the month, which will be October. But they havent mentioned the place of the date. I guess theyll tell me that soon. But, at least, I know itll happen in October and Ill have a good time to train.
Do you want to leave a message?
Id like to ask all fans that pray a lot, independent of what you believe in or who you are, if you believe in God or no. but pray for the son of our friend, the fighter Vitor Miranda, whos going through a really bad situation (after drowning on a swimming pool on the United States). Lets pray that he gets better and can bring many joys for his family, Vitor and Paula Miranda, a beautiful couple.
from TATAME
Antonio Bigfoot Silva was just playing a supporting role on Strikeforces heavyweight GP, but after defeating Fedor Emelianenko on its quarterfinals, hell decide with Alistair Overeem wholl have a vacancy on its finale.
On an exclusive interview given to TATAME, which you can read by clicking here, Bigfoot analyzed the bout against Overeem, but revealed he wished to dispute the tournaments finale against Josh Barnett, wholl face Sergei Kharitonov on the other semifinal bout.
Id really like that, defeating Overeem, do the finale against him because its a personal issue that we got to go through, said Bigfoot. Ill never bring my feelings into the ring, because then you ruin all your game plan. But, Ill set a good game plan and well solve this personal issue, just me and him. But Im not thinking about Josh right now.
Check below the exclusive interview with Bigfoot, who also comment on Fabricio Werdums performance against Alistair Overeem and asked the fans to pray for Vitor Mirandas son, whos on a hospital on the United States.
What are your thoughts about the fight between Overeem and Werdum, which defined your next opponent?
I was hoping more of this fight. Due to the fact I know Overeem, I know hes an aggressive guy, I know he respected Werdum a lot, even because you have to after all hes done. He didnt want to fight on the ground against Werdum, and I guess everybody was hoping for a submission of knockout, but unfortunately neither of these things happened. Hes a Brazilian, a friend of mine and a good guy But, unfortunately, it happened. Someone wins and someone loses, but life goes on.
Were you surprised by Werdums posture, of trying to pull Overeem to his guard all the time?
Man, on the first round, Ill tell you he did the right thing. I have told him before that Overeem would get a little tired on the second and third rounds. On the first minutes of the fight, you can really go for it against him because hes much dangerous, he has his full power, hes strong, hes muscle But, on the second and third round, hed slow it down. It was what we all saw. On some moments Werdum went for it and couldve gotten the knockout, but Werdum was also tired. He didnt stay on the top, he didnt used his ground game at any moment, he didnt do the clinch work, so I guess that if Werdum had pushed it a little harder he would have got the win.
Do you believe this bout showed a weak point of Overeem, who was exhausted when the bout was over?
All fighters have weak and strong points, not only him. Every single one of us. Were human beings. And Ill tell you something: he showed me the way. Ill get ready to do a good fight. Now I have to train just like I did for Fedor, or more. Because in case I train less than that, I wont feel confident. The difference is that I wont let Overeem rest for even a second, Ill impose my game. Of couse Ill respect him, since hes extremely dangerous. I wont make any mistake because, if you do so, hell knock you out. Hes a striker. But Ill not worry about him. Ill worry about me, with my trainings, my game polan and, with Gods blessing, everything will work out just fine.
Everybody pointed out Overeem as the one with the best striking Power on the heavyweight division, especially since he won K-1. Do you think he showed a not so good striking game this time, since he wasnt able to impose his game over Werdum?
As I said before, if Werdum had pushed it a little harder, he fit a good knee and some punches which brought Overeem dizzy and he stepped back If he had kept on moving forwards, he couldve knock him out. If he tried to get his legs, he could have taken him down and imposed his ground game, because Werdum is a legend on the ground game. But, unfortunately, he injured his knee, he was limping all the way back to the hotel. Its already complicated to strike with Overeem, especially when you have an injured knee. Its even more complicated. We cant take the credits of Overeem, but fighting while injured is pretty hard.
Ill do my job, set a great camp for this bout and Ill go for the win. I had told you before I fought Fedor that people were like: Fedor, Fedor And I used to say: guys, Id like to tell you Im not sitting at home eating pizza and drinking Coke and watching movies. I was training a lot and hes not a superman, hes a human being like any other. I love entering the octagon as the underdog, I like being booed at, it only motivates me and gives me the strength to go there and prove that Im not fighting MMA just to be another number and put some money in my pocket. Im there to fight and make some space for myself, and be among the best.
What are your thoughts about the other quarterfinals, between Josh Barnett and Brett Rogers? What do you hope of this semifinals between Barnett and Kharitonov?
Man, the bout between Josh and Brett Rogers I practically predicted what would happen. I have talked to Brett, I have told him and his coach: stay alert to your legs, he wont like to strike with you, he wont like to do the stand-up game with you and hell try to take you down with his good Wrestling. And its what I would do if I was fighting him: Id try to take him down and finish the fight. Credits to Josh, he could do it, he took him down pretty well. Hes a complete fighter, as I told you before. Hes good while striking, he has good Wrestling, he has a good ground game. Hes a complete fighter.
Now, on this tournament, I guess hes the most complete athlete. This bout against Kharitonov will be another tough one, he wont take him down that easily. Kharitonov, besides having heavy hands just like Brett, has a better posture while standing up, and is a better boxer. But Ill cheer for him, because Id really like that, defeating Overeem, do the finale against him because its a personal issue that we got to go through.
Ill never bring my feelings into the ring, because then you ruin all your game plan. But, Ill set a good game plan and well solve this personal issue, just me and him. But Im not thinking about Josh right now. Im focused in Overeem. Ive been training for a month now, thinking about Werdum and Overeem. In May I started to train and I spent three days a week training for fighting Werdum, and two days training in case Id fight Overeem. Ive started doing that in May, so its five months of preparation. Now Im focused on Overeem, on defeating him.
Ive said before that, in case I defeated Fedor, Id win this tournament, because Ive saw this bout against Fedor as a finale of the tournament to me. It was the toughest fight of the tournament, he was the most dangerous person in there, he was pointed out by everyone as the one to become its champion, and I fought him on my first bout on the tournament. That has given me extra motivation to train, to conquest this title. Now, if you want to beat me up, youll have to submit me or knock me out because I really want to win this tournament.
Did Strikeforce tell you anything about when youll fight next?
See, theyve told me the month, which will be October. But they havent mentioned the place of the date. I guess theyll tell me that soon. But, at least, I know itll happen in October and Ill have a good time to train.
Do you want to leave a message?
Id like to ask all fans that pray a lot, independent of what you believe in or who you are, if you believe in God or no. but pray for the son of our friend, the fighter Vitor Miranda, whos going through a really bad situation (after drowning on a swimming pool on the United States). Lets pray that he gets better and can bring many joys for his family, Vitor and Paula Miranda, a beautiful couple.
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