Antonio “Big Foot” Silva May Have Earned Rematch with Cain Velasquez with KO of Overeem

Antonio “Big Foot” Silva

Antonio “Big Foot” Silva may have earned a rematch with UFC heavyweight titleholder Cain Velasquez with his UFC 156 knockout of Alistair Overeem.

Velasquez defeated Silva at UFC 146 in May of 2012 by technical knockout in the first round.  Since that loss, Silva has strung together two knockout wins over Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem.

“Going into this fight (Overeem vs. Silva), we talked about if Alistair Overeem won.  He (Silva) and Cain Velasquez just fought recently, but I’m telling you, the way that he looked in this fight, what he did to Alistair, maybe we do this fight again,” said UFC president Dana White during the UFC 156 post-fight press conference.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” added White.  “I wouldn’t be opposed to giving him the fight.  He went in there and he knocked out – they called that a TKO.  That was a knockout.  He knocked out Alistair Overeem, and he looked great doing it, so we’ll see what happens.”

Silva said it would be a pleasure to face Velasquez in a rematch.

“He’s a big champion.  He’s a tough guy,” said Silva.  “I just want to fight the best guys.”

The knockout win over Overeem doesn’t guarantee Silva the next title shot with Velasquez, but it certainly raised his stock and put him at the top of the line, or near it.

“There’s a lot of interesting fights to make in the heavyweight division.  Who fights Cain next is the toughest,” said White.  “This guy has beat some tough guys.”