Silva’s Manager Suggests MMA Bout with Verhoeven

It was not a good fight at GLORY 46 for Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. The UFC veteran was finished early in the second round by GLORY Heavyweight Champion Rico Verhoeven.

WOW! @RicoVerhoeven gets the TKO in the 2nd round against Bigfoot Silva after the referee steps in. #GLORY46 @GLORY_WS #UFCFIGHTPASS pic.twitter.com/2SORQbUM9H

— UFC Fight Pass (@UFCFightPass) October 14, 2017

But it seems Silva wants do more in the near future. His manager, Alex Davis, said that while there was no expectation for Silva to win this contest, the idea of a rematch — this time held under MMA rules — should be entertained.

“So Antonio went out there and did his first kickboxing fight against the current Glory champ and legend Rico Verhoeven. And not even himself expected to win, but he fought like a lion! Nothing to be ashamed of! And nor was it the manslaughter everyone predicted. So now, Antonio thinks that it is Verhoeven’s turn to fight in MMA, and since he took the first challenge, now respectfully invites Rico to do the same in MMA. Bigfoot would be more then happy to welcome him!”

Silva released a statement of his own via his Instagram page following the loss.

No excuses… this was my first kickboxing fight, I knew the risks of fighting against @ricoverhoeven because he is the champion of @glorykickboxing and he has more than 61 fights in he’s carrier. It was a honor the be in the ring with him. I hope to have more opportunities to fight in Glory events again…. 👊🏼👊🏼 Sem desculpas nessa hora pois essa foi minha primeira luta de kickboxing, eu sabia de todos os riscos e desafios q eu teria pela frente pois aceitei lutar com o campeão do evento onde ele tem mais de 60 lutas de kickboxing, foi uma grande experiência e um enorme prazer dividir o ringue com uma pessoa como o Rico, um cara super respeitador mesmo sendo o campeão e lutando com um lutador que nunca lutou em sua área…. Obrigado Rico q Deus te abençoe e espero voltar a lutar aqui no Glory novamente. #glorykickboxing #china #rkt #thugkickboxing #brasilia

A post shared by Antonio Silva (@bigfootsilva) on Oct 14, 2017 at 7:12am PDT

Verhoeven is 51-10-1 in kickboxing, and he’s now on an eight-fight win streak. His next bout is scheduled for the December GLORY: Redemption pay-per-view, where he’s scheduled to defend the GLORY Heavyweight Championship against Jamal Ben Saddik.

Verhoeven has just one MMA bout to his record — an October 2015 bout with Viktor Bogutzki that Verhoeven won via TKO in 2:11.

While Silva has the MMA experience edge, being a UFC veteran, Silva has lost his last five MMA bouts in a row, getting finished in four of those.

Original Story: MMA Fighting