At UFC 156, heavyweight titans Alistair Overeem and Antonio Silva clashed. It was the horse-eater vs. the giant. It was a children’s fantasy novel come to life.
Overeem (36-12-1) was a heavy favorite coming into the fight. Silva (18-4), despite previously upsetting the likes of Fedor Emelianenko and Travis Browne, was comfortably ensconced in his angry-underdog role.
For a while, everything unfolded the way it was supposed to, more or less. Overeem did not appear as sharp or strong as he had in some of his previous fights, but was still controlling the fight. He landed knees, pulled off a takedown, worked some big ground-and-pound and absorbed no substantial damage from “Bigfoot.”
But then a funny thing happened on the way to Cain Velasquez. Overeem started taunting a little. Then he started taunting a lot. Nothing silly or exaggerated, but there was a lot of smirking. A lot of dropping of the hands. A lot of, I don’t know, loafing. And it all followed on a week of disrespectful smack from The Reem.
Then, in the waning seconds of the second round, referee Herb Dean stood Silva up as Overeem stood over him throwing half-hearted leg kicks. Silva used the opportunity to land a big knee from the clinch. At the start of the third, Silva landed a few short rights, and Overeem appeared almost stunned. Silva whooshed in. A head kick and just some unbelievably powerful shots and in about 20 seconds it was over. Dean stepped between them, called the KO and ushered Bigfoot away.
But then Bigfoot came back. He tromped back over to Overeem’s crumpled body. And he shouted some stuff down at him. He then let Dean carry him back away. He climbed to the top of the cage, the crowd going nuts. And then he shouted some more.
By the time Silva’s lovable, broken-English post-fight interview with Joe Rogan was complete, he had a new fan. And when I say that he had a new fan, I mean myself. I’m now a fan of yours, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
Without a doubt, at UFC 156, Antonio Silva was both the Knockout of the Night (it did win, by the way) and the story of the night. It’s a headline that writes itself: Giant Beats Down Bully.
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