Bigfoot joins Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship

Another MMA fighter has joined the world of bare-knuckle fighting as former UFC heavyweight contender Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva has signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.

The promotion announced Thursday they have inked the gargantuan heavyweight to a contract. Here’s what BKFC said in its press release.

“We are happy to announce the signing of ‘Bigfoot’ Silva to our roster,” said BKFC President David Feldman. “He has fought and beat some of the best in the world. We have some intriguing matchups that we are talking about with him now. I really expect great fighters from Antonio.”

The promotion has not yet announced Silva’s debut date or who he will be fighting in his first fight with BKFC.

“Bigfoot” Silva (19-12, 1 NC) was once one of the top-ranked heavyweights in MMA. Silva defeated Fedor Emelianenko in a big upset back in 2011 in the opening round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. He lost his next fight to eventual winner Daniel Cormier, but soon joined the UFC after it absorbed the Stikeforce roster.

After losing to Cain Velasquez in his UFC debut, Silva knocked out Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem in back-to-back fights to earn a title shot against Velasquez. He lost the rematch and has gone on an awful downhill skid in his career since then.

Over his last 10 fights, Silva is just 1-8, 1 NC. He has lost his last five fights and has been knocked out in four of them. His last win came over Soa Palelei at UFC 190 in 2015, and he hasn’t fought since a June 2017 knockout loss to Vitaly Minakov.

Silva has been knocked out 10 times in his MMA career and is now 39-years-old. The odds of him having success in bare-knuckle fighting seem questionable given his chin issues, but we’ll see have to say how he fares in BKFC. A matchup against the promotion’s new heavyweight champion Chase Sherman makes sense next.

Are you excited to see Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva compete in bare-knuckle fighting or do you think he should retire from combat sports at this point?