Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva vs Justin Eilers for EXC title

After weeks of speculation over who would be Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva’s (10-1) opponent in the battle for the first-ever Elite XC heavyweight championship, the mixed martial arts promotion has finally announced Justin Eilers (19-6-1) as its man, according to FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

Eilers is probably most known among the casual fans for his three straight losses over a year’s span in the UFC. From February 2005 to February 2006 he dropped three fights — each by first round technical knockout — to Paul Buentello, Andrei Arlovski and Brandon Vera, respectively.

However, Eilers is on a very impressive streak as of late, having won 10 of his past 11fights with the lone loss a decision to the hard-hitting Pedro Rizzo last March at The Art of War 1. It seems as though he’s targeted and fixed whatever holes in his game were leading to those knockout losses, and he’s once again ready for the big stage.

Apparently Elite XC thinks so, anyway, deeming his resume solid enough to compete for its heavyweight gold.

It won’t be an easy task for Eilers, however.

In fact, it will be a “giant” one — 6′4″ 265-pound Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva has long been touted by Elite XC Live Events President Gary Shaw as the “best heavyweight fighter in the world,” and he was a lock for the company’s first division title bout.

Coming off a less than impressive split decision victory over Ricco Rodriguez in February, “Bigfoot” is eager to show the fans a knee injury he sustained prior to that bout was a factor in his lack luster performance, and that he is in fact a much better fighter than he showed that night.
The Elite XC heavyweight division has been gaining depth lately and a title being introduced into the mix was long overdue. This should be a competitive bout, but one that is likely set up for Silva to win.

This fight is believed to be the main event of the Showtime portion of the co-telecast with CBS for the ‘Unfinished Business’ event on July 26 in Stockton, Calif. It will be the first of three scheduled title fights taking place on the evening, with Jake Shields and Nick Thompson fighting for the welterweight belt, as well as Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith re-matching for the middleweight strap.

Source & story: http://mmamania.com/