Bigfoot: “I will show the world that impossible is nothing!”

  Challenges don’t come much harder than stepping into a completely new sport to face one of the most dominant champions in its history, but that’s exactly what Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva is doing in Guangzhou, China on Saturday night.   The UFC and STRIKEFORCE veteran is challenging Rico Verhoeven in the main event of the GLORY 46 SUPERFIGHT SERIES card in a special one-off match to mark the occasion of GLORY’s debut in China.   “We are heavyweights, one punch can end the fight. I know he is very good in kickboxing and this is my first fight in kickboxing but I trained a lot for this fight with some of the best kickboxers in the world,” says Silva.    “I did my camp with Guto Inocente in Brazil. I am ready and I am going to shock the world in this fight.”    Verhoeven has established himself as the heavyweight division’s dominant force, with the world title belt around his waist and fourteen wins under the GLORY banner. Silva has a long and distinguished career in MMA behind him but has never competed under these rules before.   “He’s a human like me. I have heavy hands. One punch can make a difference, for both guys. Impossible is nothing. We can show the people that people are wrong to have that negative mentality,” he says.   “I don’t know the result, I don’t know the prediction. I just know that I trained hard, trained serious, and I am going to show the world that they are wrong.    “I talked with some guys who trained with Rico in Holland and also some guys who fought with him and they all said the same thing: he has really heavy legs, really powerful kicks, but not so much power in his hands. So it’s the kicks we really have to watch out for.”   Why is Silva making this crossover now, at this stage of his career?   “I am known as an MMA fighter but in 2007-8, I fought in Japan and I asked my manager please put me in K-1 fight, because I never had the chance to fight just stand up,” he says.   “A few months ago this fight came up and I said yes please take it I want that. I never choose my opponents. I always fought the best guys - Alistair Overeem, Mark Hunt, Cain Velasquez. The guys told me about this Rico [opportunity] and I said ‘Wow thats a tough fight, but let’s go, I want that!’    “I trained hard and I will do my best. I will show the world that impossible is nothing!”    GLORY 46 CHINA SUPERFIGHT SERIES airs live worldwide, FREE TO ALL on UFC FIGHT PASS.