After a four-year run in the UFC, Antonio Silva headlined a MMA card in Russia against undefeated Ivan Shtyrkov on Nov. 18, but the outcome wasn’t exactly what he expected.
After a close first round, "Bigfoot" was dropped and punished by the Russian heavyweight in Yekaterinburg, Russia. After somehow finding a way to survive, the Brazilian came back and almost finished Shtyrkov in the third. In the end, Shtyrkov won via unanimous decision.
Still in Russia a few days after the fight, Silva talked to MMA Fighting about the contest, and said he’s glad the referee didn’t stop the bout in the second round.