Antonio "Big Foot" Silva (left)

By Joshua Molina

Friday night is a big night for the other Silva from Brazil.

Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva will step into the cage Friday night against Travis Browne in. UFC on FX card.

Like the mythical creature he’s named after, Silva is sort of an enigma in MMA. He’s either totally overrated or totally underrated. But nobody can quite figure him out.

With a record of 20-4, he’s is considered a formidable heavyweight. He should be marketable. At 6 foot 4, With a humongous face and name like Bigfoot,” Silva has the potential to scare a lot of people into wanting to see him fight.

He has sort of an Andre The Giant appeal.

But if he doesn’t win Friday night, he may go down as the worst fighter to ever beat the great Fedor Emelianenko.

What we do know about Silva is that he is inconsistent. Against Fedor he looked, fast, fearless and mobile. Part of that may have been Fedor reaching the end of his career. Or maybe Bigfoot was just that good that night.

After upsetting Fedor, Silva got destroyed by Daniel Cormier and then pummeled into a bloody mess against Cain Velasquez.

Silva didn’t look like he belonged in the same arena as those guys, much less the same cage.

How could Silva TKO Fedor, but look like a scared amateur in his next two fights?

Since upsetting Fedor in February of 2011, Silva has fought only twice. It’s possible that Silva has trouble drumming up the fire to fight at a high level consistently.

And now Silva could be in even more trouble. He will fight the undefeated and impressive Browne, who is coming off a stunning submission victory over another rising star, firefighter Chad Griggs.

How much fire does Bigfoot have left in his step? Can he muster up the drive and will to assert himself as one of the sport’s big-time players?

Silva might be fighting for more than a paycheck and respect. His UFC career could be on the line. We all know Dana White isn’t fond of treating stars well if those stars rose to fame first outside of the UFC.

Silva can’t afford another knockout loss.

Or just like the real Bigfoot, people will always be wondering if he was ever for real.