Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva signs with BKFC

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship has added another big name to its roster.

On Thursday, the bare-knuckle boxing promotion announced the signing of one-time UFC heavyweight title challenger Antonio Silva. “Bigfoot” joins a list of several MMA standouts who have signed on to drop the gloves, which includes Artem Lobov, Jason Knight, Jim Alers, Leonard Garcia, Melvin Guillard, and Chris Leben.

“We are happy to announce the signing of ‘Bigfoot’ Silva to our roster,” BKFC president David Feldman said in a release. “He has fought and beat some of the best in the world. We have some intriguing matchups that we are talking about with him now. I really expect great [fights] from Antonio.”

The 6-foot-4 Silva last competed in MMA in June 2017 at a Fight Nights Global show in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he was knocked out in the second round by former Bellator champion Vitaly Minakov. In his 32-fight MMA career, Silva, 39 picked up notable wins over Alistair Overeem, Fedor Emelianenko, and Andrei Arlovski, and once challenged Cain Velasquez for the UFC heavyweight championship.

A date has yet to be announced for Silva’s BKFC debut.