Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva (photo via Strikeforce)

By FCF Staff

The news that Glory heavyweight champ Rico Verhoeven will battle Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva  has been met with mixed reactions, and the latter’s firing back at his critics.

Recently Glory announced that Verhoeven will face Silva in a non-title fight, October 14th at the Guangzhou Gymnasium in China. Silva, however, has lost five straight, MMA bouts, and has been stopped in four of them.

The UFC veteran recently had this to say in response to fans, who are criticizing Glory’s decision to have Silva fight Verhoeven, who is regarded to be one of the best, heavyweight strikers in combat sports (quote via MMA Fighting):

“Critics will always exist and we have to know how to deal with them,” Silva said. “Sometimes they don’t even mean to criticize you, but they are just jealous they wanted to be a professional fighter and don’t have that talent. I was always a humble person, I came from a humble family in Paraíba and competed around the world, and some people don’t accept that.

“It’s a heavyweight fight and anything can happen. I respect Rico, he’s the champion, but when I step into the ring anything can happen.”

In Verhoeven’s last bout, this past May, he earned a decision win over Ismael Lazaar.