Manager admits Rico Verhoven is ‘not a good fight’ for ‘Bigfoot’ Silva

Antonio Silva’s manager, Alex Davis, didn’t want his longtime client to accept a kickboxing bout against GLORY heavyweight champ Rico Verhoven.

Antonio Silva was recently booked to fight GLORY Kickboxing heavyweight champion Rico Verhoven, but it wasn’t a fight offer his team was enthusiastic about.

Silva’s longtime manager, Alex Davis, admitted that fighting a younger, faster fighter in Verhoven — a deadly striker from the Netherlands who hasn’t lost in two and a half years — isn’t a good idea for “Bigfoot,” who has lost five in a row and has only won twice in the past five-plus years. Silva was released from the UFC last year and has since lost twice, most recently by knockout to Vitaly Minakov.

“Obviously, it’s not a good fight for ‘Bigfoot,’” Davis told MMAjunkie. “Jumping right into (GLORY) to go against the current champ, who’s a murderer? Yeah, we get it.”

Once a top heavyweight who challenged for the UFC title on multiple occasions, Silva has tarnished his career, most would argue, with his recent knockout losses. “Bigfoot” suffers from hormonal disorder acromegaly, which usually results in enlarged hands and feet, and it may not even still be safe for him to compete. But no one is stopping Silva, and he doesn’t really have a choice.

“And also he needs money,” Davis said. “He can’t turn down fights at the moment for that reason. If it was up to me, he would not take this fight. But at the end of the day, my job is to inform him, give him my advice, and the one who has to make the final decision is him.

“I’ll be very sincere and tell you, I can’t defend a man from himself,” Davis said. “If he fights and doesn’t manage his money, he’ll go looking for the next fight. This is a very common problem with many fighters, not just ‘Bigfoot.’”

Thankfully, Davis said his client has undergone brain tests at Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, and Silva “has no problems whatsoever.”

“He has no brain damage,” Davis added. “We’ve done extensive research and testing, even before he left the UFC. So he’s OK on that end.”

GLORY 46, which features the non-title heavyweight bout between Verhoven and Silva, takes place in Guangzhou, China on Oct. 14. “Bigfoot” will be making his kickboxing debut.