Despite multiple sightings, some people believe "Bigfoot" is still a myth.
Brazilian roadblock Antonio Silva turned the world of mixed martial arts on its head by stopping Fedor Emelianenko in the quarterfinals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament back in February.
"The Last Emperor," an early favorite to win it all despite a submission loss to fellow entrant Fabricio Werdum in June 2010, was thoroughly thrashed by his much larger foe, who saw his stock rise dramatically in light of his upset win over the former PRIDE FC champion.
But can he stop the wrestling of Daniel Cormier, a heavyweight mat whiz who was good enough to make the U.S. Olympic team? Even if he can't, he's got a few tricks up his South American sleeve if (and when) this thing goes to the floor:
"My jiu-jitsu is good," Silva told Guilherme Cruz. "I've trained with coach Everaldo, Ze Mario, Nogueira, Feijao, all good grapplers I'll tell you this: I don't worry about him taking me down, even because it won't be that easy for him to take me down because I train with many wrestlers, like Rashad (Evans), I used to train with Josh, who spent six weeks with us. He's a four-time national Wrestling champion (of the United States). I've trained a lot with him, we did many sparring, he tried to take me down many times. MMA ain't no Wrestling. We must respect, there are many good wrestlers in MMA, but it all starts with the both of us standing up. And I'm doing great. Thank God I had De La Riva there with me, he actually just tweeted me: ‘good luck in sweeping him.' He taught me good sweeps. Let's do it! If he takes me down, I'll put these sweeps coach De La Riva and coach Everaldo taught me into action and let's see what happens."
Prior to sending Emelianenko back behind the iron curtain, Silva survived a first round scare to come back and crush Mike Kyle at Strikeforce: "Henderson vs Babalu" last December.
The former EliteXC Heavyweight Champion boasts an outstanding record of 16-2 with his last loss coming at the hands of the same man to famously end Fedor's run as the best in the world.
He's clearly at the top of his game.
Silva, who's hoping for a bout against Josh Barnett in the tournament finals, must now clear one final hurdle this Saturday night (Sept. 10) at the Strikeforce Grand Prix semifinals live on Showtime from the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Can he do it? Or will wrestling once again prevail? How do you see this one unfolding?
Sound off!