Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva is readying himself for a return to the cage.
The former UFC heavyweight title challenger recently announced on social media that he will square off with TUF 28 winner Juan Espino at an event inside the Gran Canaria Arena in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain on March 23.
At one time, ‘Bigfoot’ Silva was one of the premiere names in heavyweight MMA, going toe-to-toe with a slew of former world champions including Andrei Arlovski, Fedor Emelianenko, Fabricio Werdum, Daniel Cormier, and Frank Mir. However, Silva’s UFC run left a lot to be desired with the Brazilian going an underwhelming 3-7.
Silva lost six of his last seven fights inside the Octagon — including an 81-second knockout against then-heavyweight titleholder Cain Velasquez at UFC 160 — before being handed his release. He has since stayed busy fighting primarily in Russia, but his struggles to find the win column have remained. Silva is currently riding an 11-fight winless streak with nine of those losses coming by way of KO.
Silva made an appearance under the GLORY Kickboxing banner in 2017 against Rico Verhoeven. ‘Bigfoot’ lost the bout via a second-round TKO.
Two years later, he competed at BKFC 8 against another former UFC heavyweight standout, Gabriel Gonzaga. Silva again lost by knockout in the second.
Juan Espino Faces ‘Bigfoot’ Silva Nearly Three Years Removed From His Last Fight
Meeting ‘Bigfoot’ Silva will be Juan Espino who won the 28th season of The Ultimate Fighter in 2018. He went 2-1 under the UFC banner but ultimately walked away from the sport due to injuries. His last fight came in 2021 when he was on the wrong side of a highly controversial technical split decision against Alexander Romanov.
“Deep in my heart I was left with a prickly thorn,” Espino wrote in a translated post on his Instagram page. “It has nothing to do with winning or losing… . I couldn’t allow injuries to keep me from saying goodbye the way I like best.”
Watch a promotional video for Silva vs. Espino below:
