Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images.

Sometimes, you have to do a job that you don’t typically want to do. But you do it because, well, it’s best for you.

That’s basically what’s going on with Mark Hunt and his upcoming “UFC: Brisbane” main event against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. He may not have wanted to fight Silva before, but Hunt was presented the opportunity to fight him and reluctantly accepted the bout against his American Top Team colleague.

“It’s just one of those things – it’s an opportunity,” Hunt said during a press conference to promote the UFC card. “He’s a top-four fighter [and] I don’t think I’m in the top 10 at all. It’s a good opportunity for me … This is a sport and we both want to be the best fighters on the planet and it’s just another step forward for me. It’s one of those things, it’s a job. To be the best fighter you have to sometimes fight people.

“It is what it is.”

The two have shared an affiliation with the Florida-based MMA gym for quite some time now, and affiliates from said gym rarely fight each other. Hunt admitted that he said in previous interviews the he refused to fight “Bigfoot” unless it was for a title.

But it’s part of the job, Hunt said, and beating Silva is something that has to take place. At the end of the night, it won’t matter where the win puts Hunt – just as long as he’s not still ranked outside the top 10.

“For me, it doesn’t matter where it places me,” he said. “If ‘Bigfoot’s’ No. 4 and I beat him, just put me somewhere above him.”

Mark Hunt (left) will face Junior dos Santos at UFC 160 on May 25. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Heavyweights are heading down under.

A fight between Mark Hunt and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva is expected to headline an upcoming UFC card in Australia, according to a Tuesday report from Combate.

The Hunt-Silva tilt is verbally agreed to, according to the report, and is expected to be a “Fight Night” card for Saturday, Dec. 21.

Hunt (9-8) is coming off a loss to Junior dos Santos at UFC 160, a match that saw JDS land a spinning-heel kick that led to the TKO over the Samoan fighter. The loss ended a four-fight winning streak for Hunt, as well as an unlikely rise to becoming a heavyweight title contender.

Silva (19-8) is also coming off a loss, a TKO at the hands of heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez on the same card Hunt fell to dos Santos. The title shot for Silva was earned after knocking out Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem in consecutive fights.

UFC officials are yet to announce the Dec. 21 card.

Cain Velasquez successfully defends the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 160 in Las Vegas. Photo credit: UFC Facebook page.

LAS VEGAS — Cain Velasquez made quick work of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, earning a technical knockout of the Brazilian in the first round of their UFC 160 main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday evening.

Velasquez timed a one-two combination that dropped Silva, and the champion continued his assault with ground-and-pound strikes, finishing the fight at the 1:21 mark of the opening.

“The feel was the same,” Velasquez said at the post-fight press conference, comparing the defense of the title to winning it in his previous outing. “Just to go out there and win.”

The win for the champ locks up a fight with former title holder Junior dos Santos, the fighter Velasquez lost the belt to at the first UFC on Fox event in November 2011.

UFC President Dana White said it’s a “no-brainer,” and a third fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos will happen next. The UFC executive did not, however, give a timeline for when the fight will happen.

In defeat, Silva protested the loss, explaining that he was hit with numerous illegal strikes, adding that the fight was stopped prematurely.

“The fight was stopped too early,” Silva said following the TKO. “It’s clear that I took several illegal blows to the back of my neck.”

In reaction, Velasquez said his punches were all Legal. He added that the referee told him anything to the back of the ear was a legal strike, which is where Velasquez felt he hit his opponent.

“The ref came in and told me that anything to the back of the ear was all good,” said the defending champion.

With the win, Velasquez improves his record to 12-1 and has won three in a row. Silva drops his tally to 18-5 and ends his winning streak at two.

Junior dos Santos lands a head kick on Mark Hunt at UFC 160. Photo credit: UFC/Getty Images

“Cigano” throws spinning heel kick, knocks out Mark Hunt

Junior dos Santos earned another shot at the heavyweight title, knocking out Mark Hunt in the third round of their co-main event at UFC 160.

The former heavyweight champion landed several punches on Hunt, a renowned striker, but it was a spinning heal kick late in the fight that secured the win for dos Santos at 4:18 of the final round.

“He’s very dangerous,” dos Santos said in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “I have to respect him.”

The former UFC champ showed he still has the power in his hands, landing a heavy punch on Hunt that sent him down. Hunt recovered, but dos Santos landed more strikes as the round went on. The opening round finished with dos Santos earning the frame.

“Cigano” continued to use punches to score points in the second round, this time utilizing the jab more. Hunt, however, landed a flurry that shook dos Santos, backing him against the cage. The fight went to the ground when dos Santos took Hunt down, landing strikes from half guard and side control. The two stood up just before the time of the round expired.

The third round showed Hunt beginning to slow down and dos Santos capitalized. Landing more strikes as the round went on, dos Santos threw a spinning heal kick that knocked his opponent out cold, sealing the win for the former champ and a shot at the heavyweight title.

“I want that so bad,” dos Santos said of earning a chance at the title again. “I believe I will be the champion again, and I’ll do my best to get there.”

With the win, dos Santos gets back on the winning track after losing to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155.

Teixeira continues climb up the ranks, stops Te Huna in first round

Glover Teixeira stopped James Te Huna with a first0round with a submission at the UFC 160 Pay-Per-View.

Teixeira locked on a guillotine after pulling guard, finishing his opponent at the 2:38 mark of the opening frame.

Teixeira said in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan that he couldn’t believe the feeling from earning the win, and admitted that being congratulated by former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson for the win was euphoric.

With the UFC 160 victory, Teixeira wins his fourth in a row in the Octagon and 19th overall. Te Huna loses his first fight in his last five outings.

Grant stops Maynard in the first round

T.J. Grant came closer to meeting UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, getting the first-round technical knockout over Gray Maynard in their main card fight.

Grant caught the former No. 1 contender with a right hand that shook Maynard, backing him against the cage. The victor continued to land strikes until the referee stepped in to put a stop to the action.

“I practiced that for like the last eight weeks,” Grant said following the win. “I knew what he was going to do.”

Dana White said that the winner of this fight would face Henderson for the title, and now it appears that Grant is the new No. 1 contender to the lightweight crown.

Cerrone punishes Noons in three-round decision

Donald Cerrone went the distance with former Strikeforce contender K.J. Noons, earning a unanimous-decision win to open up the UFC 160 Pay-Per-View.

Cerrone put on a striking clinic early, establishing an edge in the stand-up in the first round.

Throughout rounds two and three, Cerrone continued his aggressive striking, cutting Noons open and earning the unanimous nod with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26.

Preliminary Bouts (FX):

• Mike Pyle def. Rick Story by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Dennis Bermudez def. Max Holloway by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Robert Whittaker def. Colton Smith via TKO (punches, ground & pound) at 0:41, Round 3
• Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Abel Trujillo (30-27 x3)

Preliminary Bouts (Facebook):

• Stephen Thompson def. Nah-Shon Burrell by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
• George Roop def. Brian Bowles via TKO (punches) at 1:43, Round 2
• Jeremy Stephens def. Estevan Payan via unanimous decision (30-26 x2, 30-27)

Main Bouts (Pay-Per-View):

• Cain Velasquez def. Antonio Silva via TKO (punches, ground & pound) at 1:21, Round 1
• Junior dos Santos def. Mark Hunt via KO (spinning heal kick) at 4:18, Round 3
• Glover Teixeira def. James Te Huna by submission (guillotine) at 2:38, Round 1
• T.J. Grant def. Gray Maynard by TKO (punches) at at 2:07, Round 1
• Donald Cerrone def. K.J. Noons by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 30-26)

Preliminary Bouts (FX):

• Mike Pyle def. Rick Story by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Dennis Bermudez def. Max Holloway by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Robert Whittaker def. Colton Smith via TKO (punches, ground & pound) at 0:41, Round 3
• Khabib Nurmagomedov def. Abel Trujillo (30-27 x3)

Preliminary Bouts (Facebook):

• Stephen Thompson def. Nah-Shon Burrell by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
• George Roop def. Brian Bowles via TKO (punches) at 1:43, Round 2
• Jeremy Stephens def. Estevan Payan via unanimous decision (30-26 x2, 30-27)

For full results and video of the UFC 160 weigh-ins, CLICK HERE.

Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva talks to GracieMag.com Photo by Josh Hedges

Antonio Silva didn’t have much time to celebrate his knockout of Alistair Overeem in his last fight in the UFC. As a gift, the Brazilian got the chance to fight for the heavyweight belt against Cain Velasquez in UFC 160 on May 25 in Las Vegas.

In an exclusive interview with GracieMag.com, Silva (18-4), spoke about his trajectory in the UFC, the dream of fighting the heavyweight title, the Overeem provocations before UFC 156, the conversation he had with his friend Junior dos Santos and many other subjects.

The fighter, recently sponsored by Pretorian, talked with us at the company’s headquarters.

Listen to the whole chat (in Portuguese) or read the highlights of the interview.

The first fight with Cain Velasquez

“Against Velasquez I didn’t use the strategy I should use. I was very excited, and paid for my mistake. What has changed (from the first fight) is my thought, my head. I have several motivations for this fight.”

Camp for UFC 160

“I’ll start my preparation in Rio, at Team Nogueira, the flag that I advocate, but my camp will be at American Top Team. They have good wrestlers there and for this fight that’s what I will need. I have to take this type of training. Besides, I work better near my family”.

Big Foot vs Daniel Cormier

“Yes, I would certainly like to have a rematch against Daniel Cormier. I want to have the opportunity to face the best, always”.

Blackzilians

“In fact, I was never really a member of Blackzilians. But when I knew that Overeem would be a member of Blackzilians I decided to leave. Nothing personal.”

What has changed with UFC 156

“Some people sent me a messages: ‘Sorry, I didn’t believe, I didn’t think you would win, but you gained a fan.’ That motivates me to train harder and to seek the victory. In the end, this time I made him (Overeem) respect me. Now he will respect me.”

Fight with friends Fabricio Werdum and Junior Cigano

“They are different situations and different friendships. We never want to fight with a friend, but I fight for my family, people who rely on my support.”

Werdum or Minotauro Nogueira in “TUF”?

“Minotauro. Minotauro is my godfather!”

Dream after the belt

“Having another kid.” (Bigfoot is already father of 2 girls)

—

Written by Lilian Caparroz

Glover Teixeira (pictured) faces his next challenge up the 205-pound ladder with Ryan Bader at UFC 160. Photo courtesy of UFC.

Light heavyweights Glover Teixeira and Ryan Bader will face each other at UFC 160 on May 25 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, UFC officials announced late Tuesday evening.

The bout will be added to the main card at the UFC’s annual Memorial Day Pay-Per-View.

Teixeira (20-2) was last seen at UFC on Fox 6 beating former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in a unanimous decision. The win was Teixeira’s 18th in a row and gave strong indication that he will shortly be in a talks for contention against current light heavyweight champ Jon Jones if the streak continues.

Bader (15-3) most recently dispatched Vladimir Matyushenko on the same card Teixeira ousted Rampage. Matyushenko was caught in Bader’s guillotine choke in the fight, and the Arizona State wrestler finished the contest with the submission in just 50 seconds of the first round.

A lightweight bout between Donald Cerrone (19-5, 1 N.C.) and Strikeforce implant K.J. Noons (11-6) was also announced by UFC officials on Tuesday evening. Cerrone is coming off a first-round TKO loss at the hands of Anthony Pettis, while Noons makes his UFC debut coming off a split-decision loss to Ryan Couture at the final Strikeforce card last month.

UFC 160 is headlined by heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez (11-1) defending his title against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (18-4) in a rematch of their first encounter from last year. Velasquez dominated Silva and finished the bout with a TKO in the first round.

In the co-main event, former heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos (15-2) will fight former Strikeforce heavyweight title holder Alistair Overeem (36-12, 1 N.C.).

For more UFC and MMA coverage,
visit GRACIEMAG.com’s Choke MMA section

Look back at the days when some MMA stars got into character, and draw your own conclusions.

1. Anderson “Michael Jackson” Silva

A declared Michael Jackson fan, the “Spider” unleashed his dancer side back when he was fighting in Japan at Pride FC. As he walked out to the ring, Silva dressed the part and was just as deft with his step as he is with his fists. Does he or doesn’t he take the throne?

2. “Brave” Ronaldo Jacaré and “Chief” FabrícioWerdum

Native outfits are standard fare at carnival festivities across Brazil. In the picture below, taken in 2003, Manaus native Ronaldo Jacaré and the Porto Alegre-born Fabrício Werdum made the most of their free time before Jungle Fight 1 to let their warrior sides show through.

Jacaré and Werdum sporting native garb (photo by Marcelo Dunlop/GRACIEMAG)

3. “Frankantônio-Hulk” Silva

Team Nogueira representative Antônio “Bigfoot” showed he’s got no problem with get-ups that are extensions of his physical characteristics. In the image below, we have two distinct situations where the giant from the Brazilian State of Paraíba’s costume fit like a glove.

“Bigfoot” dressed as Hulk and Frankenstein (photo taken from Twitter)

What about you, have you crossed paths with a UFC star in costume in Brazil? Send the Facebook link in to us so we can see!

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visit GRACIEMAG.com’s Choke MMA section

Cain Velasquez and Antonio Silva will meet again. This time for the heavyweight title. Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images.

UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will defend his title in a rematch with Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 160 in Las Vegas, according to a report on Tuesday evening.

The bout will headline the card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 25.

Velasquez (11-1) regained the UFC heavyweight title in his last outing by defeating the man that took it from him, Junior dos Santos, at UFC 155 last December. The bout was mostly a one-side affair with Velasquez pounding away at dos Santos, giving the Brazilian heavyweight the first loss of his career.

Silva (18-4) shocked the MMA world by knocking out heavy favorite Alistair Overeem in his last bout at UFC 156 this past Feb. 2. Bigfoot opened up the third round by letting go a number of strikes that stunned Overeem and put an end to the Dutch striker’s hopes of facing Velasquez with the win.

Velasquez beat Silva in their first meeting at UFC 146 in a fight where the then-former champ brutalized his counterpart on the way to a technical knockout in the first round.

In addition to the Velasquez-Silva title fight, Overeem and dos Santos will face each other on the same card, according to a report. The two were supposed to face each other when dos Santos was champion, but a failed drug test prior to the match-up suspended Overeem for nine months and scratched any plans the UFC had at the time to put on the fight.

News of the UFC 160 match-ups was announced on Fuel TV’s UFC Tonight show.

For more UFC and MMA coverage,
visit GRACIEMAG.com’s Choke MMA section