‘Bigfoot’ Silva preferred a different opponent at UFC Fight Night 33

(This story appears in today’s edition of USA TODAY.)

BRISBANE, Australia – UFC heavyweights Antonio Silva and Mark Hunt know that fighting each other is a chance — perhaps their last — to keep in the running for the title. Although both have recently stumbled at or are very close to the big-man division’s apex, they think they can earn another try.

It happens that one is more comfortable than the other with the matchup, which headlines “UFC Fight Night 33: Hunt vs. Bigfoot” at Brisbane Entertainment Centre. The event’s main card takes place Saturday morning in Australia but airs live tonight in the U.S. (9 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) because of the time difference.

“I prefer to fight another guy, but I’m a professional,” Silva (18-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) told USA TODAY Sports.

Silva, 34, wanted to get back in the cage immediately after losing a second time to champion Cain Velasquez in May. He thought the bout was stopped prematurely in the first round. But when his manager called with the UFC’s offer to headline a card Down Under opposite Hunt (9-8 MMA, 4-2 UFC), he balked.

To Silva, it wasn’t that the crowd would favor the New Zealand native and Sydney transplant but that they shared a month of mat time at the world-renowned American Top Team camp in Florida. He likes Hunt.

“I said, ‘Please, give me another opponent,’” he recalled. “‘You have a lot of fighters. Give me Josh (Barnett) or Travis Browne, Frank Mir, Daniel Cormier.’”

The UFC’s answer was no.

It was a far less stressful event for Hunt, 39, who has fought plenty of friends in a decade-plus of professional kickboxing and MMA.

Hunt, whose improbable four-fight UFC winning streak was chopped by a spin-kick knockout from former champion Junior dos Santos in May, is happy just to be fighting after an infected hematoma brought him face-to-face with the possibility of losing his left leg. He spent two weeks in a hospital after two skin graft surgeries and bears a scar from the ordeal.

Hunt has a number in his mind, and it’s not just the figure he stands to make by beating Silva.

“He’s No. 4 in the world, and I’m not even in the top 10,” Hunt said of the UFC’s official rankings. “If I beat him, I should take his spot.”

(Silva and Hunt are No. 6 and No. 9, respectively, in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA heavyweight power rankings.)

At the moment, Silva and Hunt are long shots for the title. But they have the advantage of competing in a smaller class in which fortunes quickly change. Neither knows how long it will take to get back into title contention.

Even if their fight is not an entirely happy pairing, they’re committed to finding out.

“I want at least to get an opportunity,” Hunt said. “Beating ‘Bigfoot’ this weekend moves me a step closer. If it doesn’t, then so be it. It’s just the way it’s supposed to be.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 33, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.