Antonio Silva calls out UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez

Antonio Silva wants a piece of UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez, according to a Feb. 6 report from MMA Junkie.

"I am highly interested in facing Cain Velasquez again," Silva said. "He's a great champion. He's a great person – very humble. When we first faced off, I didn't get much of a chance to fight. He had the right strategy. He has a great team guiding him. His strategy worked. My forehead was cut open few seconds into the fight. I was struggling to try to see. I wasn't having any success. So I was left knowing I could have done better. I have nothing personal against Velasquez."

A rematch between Velasquez and Silva makes perfect sense, as the latter was sliced open by a nasty strike just a few seconds into their 2012 bout. If the cut had never opened, the fight may have been a whole lot different.

Silva says he's open to another opponent besides Velasquez, if the UFC opts to match him up against a different heavyweight combatant.

"I am a UFC employee, so I don't choose my opponents," Silva said. "My job is to train, stay healthy physically and mentally, and show my best in the cage. If I could choose, I would pick Cain. But it's up to the UFC to pick my opponent. I'll do whatever my boss decides. And of course, every fighter has to travel a certain gauntlet of opponents and write his own history. That's how Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez did it."

Silva, who is coming off a decisive victory over Alistair Overeem at UFC 156, has no personal beef with Velasquez. He just wants the heavyweight strap around his waist.

"Many athletes try to create drama, but what fans really appreciate, and what gets us more fans and more work, is how we perform inside the cage during the fight," Silva said. "For example, Cain Velasquez is a great athlete who does not speak poorly of anyone. Same thing with Georges St-Pierre and Antonio 'Minotauro' (Nogueira). These fighters don't need to badmouth anyone to be successful."