(photo via Strikeforce.com)
Having already secured his spot in the semi-finals for the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament by defeating Fedor Emelianenko last February, Brazilian fighter Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva (16-2) had his confidence bolstered after watching last weekends bout between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum.
The bout between Overeem vs. Werdum was not what fans were hoping as the K-1 king, Overeem, failed to impress with his striking, and Werdum showed he was unwilling to fight anywhere than off his back.
Silva was in the crowd watching the live event, and despite some disappointment at his friends loss, feels that he saw many holes in Overeem’s performance that he plans on exploiting when the two meet.
Speaking to Tatame.com, ‘Bigfoot’ offered his thoughts on what he saw between Overeem vs. Werdum. Be sure to check out the full interview as Silva also offers some thoughts on the other quarterfinal bout of the night between winner, Josh Barnett, and Brett Rogers.
Were you surprised by Werdum’s posture, of trying to pull Overeem to his guard all the time?
Man, on the first round, I’ll 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 he’s much dangerous, he has his full power, he’s strong, he’s muscle… But, on the second and third round, he’d slow it down. It was what we all saw. On some moments Werdum went for it and could’ve gotten the knockout, but Werdum was also tired. He didn’t stay on the top, he didn’t used his ground game at any moment, he didn’t 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. We’re human beings. And I’ll tell you something: he showed me the way. I’ll 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 won’t feel confident. The difference is that I won’t let Overeem rest for even a second, I’ll impose my game. Of couse I’ll respect him, since he’s extremely dangerous. I won’t make any mistake because, if you do so, he’ll knock you out. He’s a striker. But I’ll not worry about him. I’ll worry about me, with my trainings, my game polan and, with God’s blessing, everything will work out just fine.
No time table has been put forward by Strikeforce executives as to when the semi-final bouts will take place, but speculation has the event happening in October or November.