On Tuesday Strikeforce officials confirmed an upcoming bout between heavyweights Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (15-2) and Fedor Emelianenko for the opening round of their World Grand Prix Tournament.
Both fighters will meet in the quarterfinals of the tournament at an upcoming Strikeforce event on Feb. 12 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Silva, the winner of his last two fights is 8-1 in his last nine, is poised to take on one of the legends of the sport. He spoke to Fighters Only Magazine, before the official announcement, about fighting Fedor.
“We always wish to face the best and what I can imagine is a very tough fight because (Fedor) won’t want a second loss and I want to establish myself among the top 10, so it’ll be a very difficult battle for both of us.
“I would say that I respect him a lot, he is a living legend of the sport but I will be very focused. I will be looking back on everything [all the difficulties in life] I overcame so far and will do everything not to let the opportunity pass me.”