(Exhibit ‘G’ in the murder case against Dana White and the Fertittas)
In spite of the fact that Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva’s stock in the heavyweight division dropped a few points following his knockout loss to Daniel Cormier in the semi-finals of Strikeforce’s heavyweight grand prix, his manager, Alex Davis is confident that his client’s next fight will be in the UFC’s Octagon.
“He has a contract with Strikeforce, but Strikeforce is now controlled by the UFC and we’re watching Strikeforce fighters going to the UFC all the time,” Davis told TATAME in a recent interview. “UFC’s heavyweight division is big, but they could have even more [top talent] and I’m sure Bigfoot will be in the UFC real soon. There’s a lot of great fights for him inside the Octagon, and he’ll shine there.”
(Exhibit ‘G’ in the murder case against Dana White and the Fertittas)
In spite of the fact that Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva’s stock in the heavyweight division dropped a few points following his knockout loss to Daniel Cormier in the semi-finals of Strikeforce’s heavyweight grand prix, his manager, Alex Davis is confident that his client’s next fight will be in the UFC’s Octagon.
“He has a contract with Strikeforce, but Strikeforce is now controlled by the UFC and we’re watching Strikeforce fighters going to the UFC all the time,” Davis told TATAME in a recent interview. “UFC’s heavyweight division is big, but they could have even more [top talent] and I’m sure Bigfoot will be in the UFC real soon. There’s a lot of great fights for him inside the Octagon, and he’ll shine there.”
Although the report went on to state that “nothing is official” yet in regards to Silva’s migration to the UFC, there must be a reason why Davis feels so strongly that it’s going to happen, whether it be a conversation he had with the UFC brass or rumors that are swirling amongst industry insiders. If Silva does jump over from Strikeforce, the move will be further proof that Zuffa has no plans to keep it’s “B” league afloat. Considering that Strikeforce’s biggest asset is arguably its heavyweight roster, if the UFC picks it clean like it did the promotion’s champions like Dan Henderson, Nick Diaz and Alistair Overeem, the writing on the wall couldn’t be any clearer.
Daniel Cormier knew his right hand was broken almost as soon as it connected with Antonio Silva‘s head, but it took a while for the pain to set in.
“It was just the adrenaline,” he told MMA Fighting this week. “I was on such a high.”
Maybe that explains why Cormier kept hitting Silva with his broken hand throughout the first round of their Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinal bout, and why he thinks it was lucky for him that the fight ended in the first round.
As Cormier explained, “If we’d have fought 15 minutes, I’d have kept throwing that thing all 15 minutes.”
It was only when the Strikeforce heavyweight and former Olympic wrestler woke up on Sunday morning that the pain really set in. Then he knew it was almost certainly broken, and a trip to the doctor back home confirmed his suspicion.
On Friday, Cormier’s hand goes into a cast for the next six to eight weeks. During that time he plans to work on improving his kicks and his cardio, he said, but even when the cast comes off he doesn’t know how long it will be before he’s able to “start punching” and get back into full training and sparring mode.
It’s a difficult situation, since he doesn’t want to rush it and end up re-injuring himself. Then again, he knows Strikeforce wants to wrap up the Grand Prix in the first quarter of 2012, which means he needs to be ready to fight fellow finalist Josh Barnett by then or else risk being replaced.
“This is terrible for me, man,” Cormier said. “This is worst-case scenario. With when they want the fight to happen, and me being the kind of guy who wants to deliver those type of fights, to have an injury like this. The thing that makes it so difficult is, I think Josh is so good. I need to have a ten-week training camp to prepare for that fight, so this is worst-case scenario for me.”
“I guess I was thinking that the show has to go on. I really do want to be a part of it. It means a lot to me, knowing I got this opportunity, and I saw that [Grand Prix] belt and I instantly wanted that belt. I want to be one of the champions in Strikeforce, because that’s where I started. It’s where I had my first fight. …But I can’t act that surprised, because I got my opportunity [to join the Grand Prix] for the same exact reason.”
The last time Cormier had an injury this serious was when he broke his arm wrestling in 2002. That healed faster than doctors expected, he said, so he’s “just hoping I have something in me that makes me heal fast so I can start training, and get the type of training camp I need to fight Josh.”
Cormier’s big concern is not just that he won’t be ready in time, he said. While Strikeforce hasn’t announced a date for the Grand Prix finals yet, he should be out his cast by mid-November and could be ready to start sparring at least by early 2012, if not sooner. But will that leave him enough time to get a full training camp in before he fights Barnett? And if not, what then?
“Everybody always tells me that I made big improvements from fight to fight to fight,” Cormier said. “Well, if I’m injured for two months, what if I don’t make that much of an improvement from my last fight to the fight with Josh? That’s why I say it’s worst-case. This is the fight where I have to make the most improvement just to be where I need to be to beat the guy.”
As Cormier sees it, “I have to win this fight.”
And yet, with his right hand in a cast for the next six to eight weeks, there isn’t a whole lot he can do at the moment to move himself closer to that goal. Maybe the best he can do now is wait and hope.
Daniel Cormier knew his right hand was broken almost as soon as it connected with Antonio Silva‘s head, but it took a while for the pain to set in.
“It was just the adrenaline,” he told MMA Fighting this week. “I was on such a high.”
Maybe that explains why Cormier kept hitting Silva with his broken hand throughout the first round of their Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinal bout, and why he thinks it was lucky for him that the fight ended in the first round.
As Cormier explained, “If we’d have fought 15 minutes, I’d have kept throwing that thing all 15 minutes.”
It was only when the Strikeforce heavyweight and former Olympic wrestler woke up on Sunday morning that the pain really set in. Then he knew it was almost certainly broken, and a trip to the doctor back home confirmed his suspicion.
On Friday, Cormier’s hand goes into a cast for the next six to eight weeks. During that time he plans to work on improving his kicks and his cardio, he said, but even when the cast comes off he doesn’t know how long it will be before he’s able to “start punching” and get back into full training and sparring mode.
It’s a difficult situation, since he doesn’t want to rush it and end up re-injuring himself. Then again, he knows Strikeforce wants to wrap up the Grand Prix in the first quarter of 2012, which means he needs to be ready to fight fellow finalist Josh Barnett by then or else risk being replaced.
“This is terrible for me, man,” Cormier said. “This is worst-case scenario. With when they want the fight to happen, and me being the kind of guy who wants to deliver those type of fights, to have an injury like this. The thing that makes it so difficult is, I think Josh is so good. I need to have a ten-week training camp to prepare for that fight, so this is worst-case scenario for me.”
“I guess I was thinking that the show has to go on. I really do want to be a part of it. It means a lot to me, knowing I got this opportunity, and I saw that [Grand Prix] belt and I instantly wanted that belt. I want to be one of the champions in Strikeforce, because that’s where I started. It’s where I had my first fight. …But I can’t act that surprised, because I got my opportunity [to join the Grand Prix] for the same exact reason.”
The last time Cormier had an injury this serious was when he broke his arm wrestling in 2002. That healed faster than doctors expected, he said, so he’s “just hoping I have something in me that makes me heal fast so I can start training, and get the type of training camp I need to fight Josh.”
Cormier’s big concern is not just that he won’t be ready in time, he said. While Strikeforce hasn’t announced a date for the Grand Prix finals yet, he should be out his cast by mid-November and could be ready to start sparring at least by early 2012, if not sooner. But will that leave him enough time to get a full training camp in before he fights Barnett? And if not, what then?
“Everybody always tells me that I made big improvements from fight to fight to fight,” Cormier said. “Well, if I’m injured for two months, what if I don’t make that much of an improvement from my last fight to the fight with Josh? That’s why I say it’s worst-case. This is the fight where I have to make the most improvement just to be where I need to be to beat the guy.”
As Cormier sees it, “I have to win this fight.”
And yet, with his right hand in a cast for the next six to eight weeks, there isn’t a whole lot he can do at the moment to move himself closer to that goal. Maybe the best he can do now is wait and hope.
It’s been a busy time in the heavyweight division in mixed martial arts: The UFC has announced that Cain Velasquez will defend the heavyweight title against Junior dos Santos on Fox, that Brock Lesnar will return against former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem in what should be the year’s biggest pay-per-view, and that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will attempt to continue his comeback with a rematch against Frank Mir.
But the most exciting thing to happen in the heavyweight division recently has been the emergence of Daniel Cormier.
Cormier didn’t just win against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinal. He won in devastating fashion and did it by out-striking Silva, not by out-wrestling him, which most people thought was Cormier’s only path to victory. The victory vaults Cormier into the heavyweight Top 10, which is below.
1. Cain Velasquez (1): The champion will finally return to the Octagon against Junior dos Santos in November, after more than a year away. He says he’s at full strength after shoulder surgery. He’ll need to be against dos Santos, who’s a better striker than anyone Velasquez has ever faced.
2. Junior dos Santos (2): In a sign of how big the dos Santos-Velasquez fight is going to be, Fox was advertising it during its Week 1 NFL games. That’s the kind of promotion that will bring these two heavyweights — and the UFC — to a whole new audience.
3. Alistair Overeem (3): By signing to face Lesnar at the end of the year, Overeem has accepted the biggest challenge of his MMA career: Overeem has never faced anyone as physically strong as Lesnar, or anyone with Lesnar’s wrestling pedigree. Overeem won’t be able to throw Lesnar around or bully him in the clinch, the way he’s been able to do against so many of his recent opponents.
4. Brock Lesnar (4): The big problem Lesnar had in his last two fights is that he didn’t react well to getting hit in the face by Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez. That could become an even bigger problem when he faces Overeem, who’s an absolutely devastating striker.
5. Fabricio Werdum (5): Werdum is the best Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner in the heavyweight division and a threat to submit anyone he faces, but at the moment it’s hard to see where he goes: Fans aren’t exactly clamoring to see him again after his lackluster performance in his June loss to Overeem, and the uncertain future of Strikeforce may have him waiting around for a while before he finds his next fight.
6. Daniel Cormier (NR): Cormier is an Olympic wrestler and maybe the best pure wrestler in all of MMA, but what’s so impressive about Cormier is how far his striking has come. Cormier made a conscious effort to turn himself into a well-rounded mixed martial artist rather than simply a wrestler who plays to his strengths in the cage, and the results on display in his knockout win over Bigfoot were stunning. Cormier is now 9-0 and a real force in the heavyweight division.
7. Shane Carwin (7): Carwin is now on a two-fight losing streak, but there’s no shame in losing to Lesnar and dos Santos. The bigger question facing Carwin is whether he’s lost some of his devastating power. The 36-year-old, 255-pound Carwin who lost to dos Santos didnt’ look nearly as powerful as the 35-year-old, 265-pound Carwin who knocked out Frank Mir.
8. Frank Mir (8): Mir should be favored to beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira again in their December rematch. If he does, he’ll position himself to make another run at the UFC heavyweight title in 2012, although he’ll have to get in line behind the Lesnar-Overeem winner.
9. Josh Barnett (10): Barnett is now on an eight-fight winning streak, and he hasn’t lost since meeting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in Pride in 2006. He’ll have his hands full in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix final, however, as he won’t be able to take down Daniel Cormier and control him on the ground, which was Barnett’s path to victory over Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov.
10. Antonio Silva (6): The way Silva dropped like a sack of potatoes against Cormier raises some questions about his striking defense, but Silva is still a big talent who could potentially have some very interesting matchups against heavyweights in either Strikeforce or the UFC.
It’s been a busy time in the heavyweight division in mixed martial arts: The UFC has announced that Cain Velasquez will defend the heavyweight title against Junior dos Santos on Fox, that Brock Lesnar will return against former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem in what should be the year’s biggest pay-per-view, and that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will attempt to continue his comeback with a rematch against Frank Mir.
But the most exciting thing to happen in the heavyweight division recently has been the emergence of Daniel Cormier.
Cormier didn’t just win against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinal. He won in devastating fashion and did it by out-striking Silva, not by out-wrestling him, which most people thought was Cormier’s only path to victory. The victory vaults Cormier into the heavyweight Top 10, which is below.
1. Cain Velasquez (1): The champion will finally return to the Octagon against Junior dos Santos in November, after more than a year away. He says he’s at full strength after shoulder surgery. He’ll need to be against dos Santos, who’s a better striker than anyone Velasquez has ever faced.
2. Junior dos Santos (2): In a sign of how big the dos Santos-Velasquez fight is going to be, Fox was advertising it during its Week 1 NFL games. That’s the kind of promotion that will bring these two heavyweights — and the UFC — to a whole new audience.
3. Alistair Overeem (3): By signing to face Lesnar at the end of the year, Overeem has accepted the biggest challenge of his MMA career: Overeem has never faced anyone as physically strong as Lesnar, or anyone with Lesnar’s wrestling pedigree. Overeem won’t be able to throw Lesnar around or bully him in the clinch, the way he’s been able to do against so many of his recent opponents.
4. Brock Lesnar (4): The big problem Lesnar had in his last two fights is that he didn’t react well to getting hit in the face by Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez. That could become an even bigger problem when he faces Overeem, who’s an absolutely devastating striker.
5. Fabricio Werdum (5): Werdum is the best Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner in the heavyweight division and a threat to submit anyone he faces, but at the moment it’s hard to see where he goes: Fans aren’t exactly clamoring to see him again after his lackluster performance in his June loss to Overeem, and the uncertain future of Strikeforce may have him waiting around for a while before he finds his next fight.
6. Daniel Cormier (NR): Cormier is an Olympic wrestler and maybe the best pure wrestler in all of MMA, but what’s so impressive about Cormier is how far his striking has come. Cormier made a conscious effort to turn himself into a well-rounded mixed martial artist rather than simply a wrestler who plays to his strengths in the cage, and the results on display in his knockout win over Bigfoot were stunning. Cormier is now 9-0 and a real force in the heavyweight division.
7. Shane Carwin (7): Carwin is now on a two-fight losing streak, but there’s no shame in losing to Lesnar and dos Santos. The bigger question facing Carwin is whether he’s lost some of his devastating power. The 36-year-old, 255-pound Carwin who lost to dos Santos didnt’ look nearly as powerful as the 35-year-old, 265-pound Carwin who knocked out Frank Mir.
8. Frank Mir (8): Mir should be favored to beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira again in their December rematch. If he does, he’ll position himself to make another run at the UFC heavyweight title in 2012, although he’ll have to get in line behind the Lesnar-Overeem winner.
9. Josh Barnett (10): Barnett is now on an eight-fight winning streak, and he hasn’t lost since meeting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in Pride in 2006. He’ll have his hands full in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix final, however, as he won’t be able to take down Daniel Cormier and control him on the ground, which was Barnett’s path to victory over Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov.
10. Antonio Silva (6): The way Silva dropped like a sack of potatoes against Cormier raises some questions about his striking defense, but Silva is still a big talent who could potentially have some very interesting matchups against heavyweights in either Strikeforce or the UFC.
(With a head that big, it’s no wonder “Bigfoot” has sore shoulders)
Chael Sonnen told me during an interview a couple years back that guys who go into a fight 100 percent healthy either didn’t train hard enough or they’re liars.
What he was referring to was the growing number of fighters who make excuses for losses or less than stellar wins after the fact by revealing that they were nursing an injury during the fight or training camp, since pretty much everyone has some kind of ailment or boo-boo come fight day.
Well, we can add another name to the list. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva tells Tatame that he had a shoulder injury and was on anti-inflammatories when he was upset by heavyweight grand prix alternate Daniel Cormier Saturday night at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov in Cincinnati. Apparently the first jab he ate from the AKA fighter made him feel uncharacteristically dizzy and it was this bit of vertigo that led to him getting knocked out.
(With a head that big, it’s no wonder “Bigfoot” has sore shoulders)
Chael Sonnen told me during an interview a couple years back that guys who go into a fight 100 percent healthy either didn’t train hard enough or they’re liars.
What he was referring to was the growing number of fighters who make excuses for losses or less than stellar wins after the fact by revealing that they were nursing an injury during the fight or training camp, since pretty much everyone has some kind of ailment or boo-boo come fight day.
Well, we can add another name to the list. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva tells Tatame that he had a shoulder injury and was on anti-inflammatories when he was upset by heavyweight grand prix alternate Daniel Cormier Saturday night at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov in Cincinnati. Apparently the first jab he ate from the AKA fighter made him feel uncharacteristically dizzy and it was this bit of vertigo that led to him getting knocked out.
Now, I’m no doctor, and the translation by Tatame may be a bit off, but I’m pretty sure that neither a shoulder injury or anti-inflammatories make you dizzy, nor do they make you more apt to be knocked out. And apparently if you add an “I’m not making excuses here,” prior to rambling off an excuse for why you failed to perform, it’s okay. It’s like how the word, “but” gives you free reign to tell it like it is, except it really means, “Forget everything I said before the ‘but.’” For example, when you tell a buddy, “I’m sorry knocking you out, but in my defense you were being kind of an asshole,” you’re really just saying, “You deserved getting KTFO because you were being an asshole.”
Here’s Bigfoot’s excuse reason for not beating Cormier after the breakthrough performance he had against Fedor earlier in the tournament:
“I came to fight knowing I would have to go through a surgery. I didn’t want to leave this GP, once Overeem left, and if I quit it wouldn’t be nice. Since Strikeforce belongs to Zuffa now, I could even be cut off. It’s not an excuse. I used corticoid, but I was reckless. Cormier is to be congratulated. I made a mistake. I’ll go through a surgery now and I won’t fight at ADCC,” he explained. “The doctor said that within a month I’ll be back to the trainings, and I hope to fight as soon as possible, maybe in December. I want to fight once again until the end of the year so I have a chance to redeem myself.”
The first step to redeeming himself would have been not mentioning that his shoulder hurt and giving Cormier credit for his performance instead of saying he won because you made a mistake. Son, I am disappoint.
“This hurts me more than it does you.” PicProps: Esther Lin
Bad news for all you rabid Daniel Cormier fans: the big guy confirmed yesterday that his right hand is indeed broken after he used said hand to bludgeon Bigfoot Silva into La-La Land and out of the heavyweight grand prix:
Cormier worked his way from an alternate slot in the Strikeforce GP to a finals matchup with Josh Barnett, but his victories may be all for naught if he doesn’t heal quickly enough.
“This hurts me more than it does you.” PicProps: Esther Lin
Bad news for all you rabid Daniel Cormier fans: the big guy confirmed yesterday that his right hand is indeed broken after he used said hand to bludgeon Bigfoot Silva into La-La Land and out of the heavyweight grand prix:
Cormier worked his way from an alternate slot in the Strikeforce GP to a finals matchup with Josh Barnett, but his victories may be all for naught if he doesn’t heal quickly enough.
MMAJunkie relayed that Scott Coker would like to have Cormier in the finals, but speaking hypothetically, “if Daniel wasn’t available for an extended period of time, [Strikeforce would] consider another opponent” for the final bout of the tourney.
That final bout is tentatively scheduled for sometime early next year, but Strikeforce has shown impatience before with tournament entrants taking time off for injuries, so … paging Chad Griggs?
Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsA visit to the doctor Monday confirmed Daniel Cormier’s initial impression of a break in his right hand in his win Saturday against Antonio Silva in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals in Cincinnati.
A visit to the doctor Monday confirmed Daniel Cormier‘s initial impression of a break in his right hand in his win Saturday against Antonio Silva in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals in Cincinnati.
“Just got done seeing doctor,” Cormier wrote late Monday on his Twitter. “Hand is broken [and I] will be on the shelf for a while. Still looking forward to finishing the tourney. Thanks for the support.”
Cormier will likely have enough time to rehab and train without the need to delay the tournament final since his fight against Josh Barnett is being targeted for early 2012.
With that said, Coker said on Saturday he would consider a replacement if Cormier was out for an extended amount of time past first quarter of 2012.
In his upset win, the former Olympic wrestler Cormier floored the 6-foot-4 Silva twice in the fight before finishing with hammerfists at three minutes and 56 seconds. According to Cormier, he felt something was wrong right early in the fight.
“The very first right hand, man,” he told MMA Fighting after the fight. “The very first right hand I hit him on the chin, he went down, and I went to punch him and I felt my hand crack a little bit under me.
Cormier improved his record to 9-0 with his win over Silva, setting up a meeting with former UFC champion Barnett (31-5), who advanced the same night with a submission win over Sergei Kharitonov.
It’s been a busy time in the heavyweight division in mixed martial arts: The 
A visit to the doctor Monday confirmed 