Bigfoot Silva wants Josh Barnett when he returns this fall
It's been a rather tumultuous last six months for UFC heavyweight Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva after having what was being called one of the greatest fights in MMA history.
Silva engaged in a back and forth, five round war with Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night in Australia in December 2013, but weeks after the fight while the epic showdown was still fresh in everyone's minds, the Brazilian tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone and faced a nine month suspension because of the infraction.
Now Silva is targeting a return to the UFC Octagon in the fall with hopes of erasing the bad memories from the last few months, and he's looking at Josh Barnett as a potential opponent for his next fight.
According to Silva's manager Alex Davis, who spoke to UFC Tonight, the American Top Team fighter is scheduled to have surgery on his pituitary gland to remove a benign tumor after his next bout, but first things first he wants to face Barnett. Silva already had a similar surgery once before, but doctors failed to remove some additional tissue from the area.
The hope is the surgery can normalize his testosterone levels because injections aren't working and radiotherapy may lower his levels even further.
Unfortunately, Silva needs to get back to work first before he can engage in a rather expensive medical procedure to remove the tumor.
As far as Barnett's side goes, UFC Tonight's Ariel Helwani reached out to his manager Leland LeBarre who stated, "Josh sees no professional reason to fight Bigfoot. We don't have any issues with him, so if he really wants to do this. Really think about it first. Because we won't take something like this lightly."
For now, Silva still has a few more months to go until his suspension is up and then he can book his next fight. Whether it's Barnett or not, remains to be seen.
