UFC Fight Night 61: Bigfoot vs. Mir Date: February 22, 2015 Location: Ginasio Gigantinho Venue: Porto Algere, Brazil Broadcast: FS1 UFC Heavyweight Contender Antonio Silva Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (19-5, 1 NC) is one of the top heavyweights in the world. He never got any respect in Strikeforce until his finish of the legendary Fedor Emelianenko, a victory which put him on the map, but he’s definitely got respect in the UFC after knocking out Alistair Overeem and Travis Browne, fighting Cain Velasquez for the title but coming up short at UFC 160. He bounced back from the loss to Velasquez with an amazing, Fight of the Year performance against Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 33 in a fight that was scored a draw (but later changed to a No Contest). After serving a drug suspension, Silva came back and was swiftly knocked out in the first round by Andrei Arlovski at UFC Fight Night 51. His chin looked horrible in the fight and he might not be the same fighter anymore after that war with Hunt. Now he has a chance to get back on track when he fights Mir at UFC Fight Night 61 in a must-win fight for both men. UFC Heavyweight Contender Frank Mir Frank Mir (16-9) is one of the most decorated heavyweights in UFC history, having defeated the likes of Roy Nelson, Brock Lesnar, Mirko Cro Cop, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Tim Sylvia in his career. The former UFC heavyweight champion, Mir was once at the top of the division as as recently as 2012 was fighting for the title. However, he is on a steep decline and is currently riding a four-fight losing streak with two of those losses coming by knockout. Overall, he has lost seven fights by knockout, which is obviously not a good thing. He still has his exceptional BJJ (nine submission wins) and some power (three T/KO wins) but his wrestling is poor and his chin can’t take shots anymore. The UFC is giving Mir one last chance to prove he is still a capable fighter and he takes on Antonio Silva in the main event of UFC Fight Night 61 in a fight that will almost assuredly not go the distance. Opening Fight Night 61 Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made Silva a -185 favorite (bet $185 to win $100) while Mir opened as a +145 underdog (bet $100 to win $145) at Several Bookmakers. This is an interesting heavyweight fight between two fighters on the downside of their careers. Mir, the former UFC heavyweight champion, has lost four straight fights and looks like he is close to retiring. He hasn’t won a fight since 2011 and his chin looks like it’s completely gone now. Silva was one of the top contenders in the UFC heavyweight division the last few years, but is coming off of a brutal KO loss to Anderi Arlovski and some are questioning his ability to take a punch anymore. So both guys have bad chins overall. As well, both men are fighters who have a history with TRT. So there’s a lot of question marks surrounding both. As far as their styles go, both men come from a BJJ background and both men have knockout power. Overall Silva has the better standup and wrestling, but Mir has a slight edge in BJJ, so it’s a close fight on paper. I could see either of these guys winning the fight by knockout, and since it’s five rounds I think that’s a very likely scenario. Silva has looked a bit better in recent years so he enters as a slight favorite, but it’s really a fight that could go either way.
