Fans and media are often quick to call for a fighter to retire if he falls on hard times in his career. It was no different for Antonio Silva as he went 0-3-1 in a four-fight stretch leading up to UFC 190.

Silva (19-7-1 MMA, 3-4-1 UFC) silenced many of his doubters with a second round TKO of Soa Palelei (22-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) at UFC 190. The Brazilian big man says that he showed that “Bigfoot” is back and will be in the top 10 by the end of the year.

He also found a joy in finally winning in the octagon in front of his countrymen. The event took place at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro.

“That’s special,” Silva told MMAjunkie following his win. “I’ve fought here two times and I lost those two times. Now I came back and I won the fight. I see the people and everybody calling my name. I’m so excited and very happy because of it.”

Silva was aware that some felt his recent run could be indicative of a need to hang up his gloves. This despite the fact that, outside of his first career loss, every man he has lost to was a current, former or future UFC champion.

But Silva found inspiration in the career resurgences of two of the men who recently defeated him.

“When you lose everybody says you need to retire,” Silva said. “You lost one time or two times. But I’m training very hard for this fight and Andrei Arlovski and Frank Mir give me special motivation, you know? Frank Mir lost four times and Andrei Arlovski had a hard time before. And now they came back. Arlovski has three wins and Frank Mir has two. Those guys give me a lot of motivation.

“Another example, Fabricio Werdum. He fought Alistair Overeem and lost the fight in Strikeforce. It was a terrible fight. He went back to training, trained hard and now he’s UFC champ. You never give up. I never give up. I’m back now and I’ll be back stronger next fight.”

For complete coverage of UFC 190, check out the UFC Events section of the site.