The UFC will be returning to Brazil at the beginning of next month and Soa Palelei will have his biggest fight since returning to the UFC when he meets former UFC title challenger Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva on the main card.
Palelei (22-4) returned to the UFC in 2013 and has won four of his five fights since coming back to the promotion. All of those victories have come by TKO/KO and he is coming off a second round TKO win against Walt Harris in November.
The matchup with Silva will mark the first time since coming back to the UFC that Palelei will be facing someone ranked in the top fifteen of the UFC heavyweight division. Palelei currently sits outside of the top fifteen and while Silva has not scored a victory since 2013, he knows that he can not underestimate “Bigfoot.”
“Bigfoot is dangerous and do not underestimate anyone that has fallen down because they will get back up,” Palelei told The MMA Report. “If they get back up, they will surprise a lot of people. I never underestimate anyone I am fighting, especially Bigfoot. He is tough and has fought the best in the world. He has beaten the best in the world and he is definitely going to be coming in their to take my head off.”
While things have not gone Silva’s way in his last four fights, he does have career victories against Alistair Overeem, Travis Browne, and Fedor Emelianenko. Palelei is well aware of the abilities of his opponents and has been working on all aspects of MMA at AKA Thailand.
“He is obviously a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and his stand up is good. You have seen him pick apart some of the top stand up fighters in the UFC. If he is on his game on the day, he is going to be unstoppable. That is what we have been preparing for. Covering all basis with Bigfoot.”
One of the people that Palelei has been working with for this camp is Mark Hunt, who faced Silva back in 2013. He has been a great asset for this camp and Palelei believes that this fight will most likely end before the first round concludes.
“This is going to be a war and I do not think this fight is going to go past the first round. If it does, it’s going to be a war,” he explained. “Bigfoot can throw and if he hits you — you are going to get knocked out. If I hit him, he is going to get knocked out. You just don’t know. I am going to be very careful and stick to the game plan. That is why I have these big guys in here so I have my stand up glued up because Bigfoot can stand. He can also rumble on the ground and want to make sure I have all of my basis covered and make sure I give everyone an interesting fight.”