Less than a month after dispatching of Justin Eilers to become the first-ever EliteXC Heavyweight Champion, Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva is back in the gym and readying to defend his title soon.
"I’m happy, but I’m back on training because I might come back in September to defend my belt. I passed a week with my family and it was great, but I’m back here (ATT) now", said the athlete.
Given the turnaround on major heavyweight titles lately, it's nice to think we could see Silva back in action so soon. However with EXC announcing the cancellation of their September 20th show last week, and with already-announced fights from that event still presumably needing new homes, it seems unlikely that the Brazilian will get the chance for his first defense in the next few months.
In related news, Tatame reported yesterday that American Top Team's head trainer, Andre "Benkei" Santos, has split with the highly-regarded camp due to "idealogical disagreements" with head coach Ricardo Libório. A number of ATT's biggest names - including "Bigfoot," Thiago Alves, Thiago Silva and Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante - have reportedly made clear their intentions to continue on with the team while also training independently with Santos.
Meanwhile, the much-anticipated MMA debut of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu phenom Andre Galvão is scheduled for August 30th at Fighting 4 Kidz, an event to benefit the Shriners Hospital in Los Angeles. No opponent has been named yet for the multiple-time Pan-American and BJJ World Champion, who has recently been training with WEC middleweight champ Paulo Filho. Though not listed on the Fighting 4 Kidz site, MMAJunkie reports that Ultimate Fighter cast member Gabe Ruediger will also participate... at a catchweight.
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