UFC Vegas 12

UFC Vegas 12 Preview: Anderson Silva vs Uriah Hall

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Tomorrow night at UFC Vegas 12, one of the greatest of all time might make the walk for the final time. Former middleweight champion, Anderson Silva (34-10, 1 NC) will be taking on Uriah Hall (15-9) in the main event tomorrow night.

The Spider is one of the greatest champions in UFC history. This week there has been a lot of talk about this fight and his career. At first, Silva did indicate that tomorrow would be his retirement fight. However, he seems to be hedging on that retirement now. 

Silva has not been the same guy since he lost to Chris Weidman back at UFC 162 back in 2013. Weidman ended Silva’s historic title reign when Silva was caught while showboating. Since that fight, Silva is just 1-6, 1 NC in his last eight fights.

Had Silva just retired after he defeated Stephan Bonnar at UFC 153, he would have gone down as the GOAT. However, Silva’s love for the sport kept him pushing on. Now he takes on a contender in his final fight that reminds a lot of people of Silva.

When Uriah Hall appeared on the Ultimate Fighter, everyone marveled at his striking skills. He was being touted as the next Anderson Silva. After running through the show, Hall stumbled at the finale against Kelvin Gastelum.

Hall’s UFC career has been filled with highs and lows. The best win of his career came when he knocked out Bellator champion, Gegard Mousasi. However, he also has a couple of tough losses like the ones to John Howard and Rafael Natal.

UFC Vegas 12 Prediction

Since his loss to Natal, Hall has only really lost to top competition since 2015. He’s on a two fight winning streak, and he realizes that he needs to do something special at UFC Vegas 12 to get him moving towards the top of the division.

However, Silva is not someone that’s easy to look good against. Just look at his fight against Israel Adesanya. The current UFC middleweight champion struggled at times with Silva. Silva is a master of distance and movement even at his advanced age.

When it comes to the fight tomorrow night, I’m not expecting drastic fireworks. I think that we will be in for more of a striking chess match. While I really want to see Silva go out on a win, I’m going to lean towards Hall. I think he’ll be more active and score enough points to earn a decision.

Prediction: Uriah Hall by Unanimous Decision

UFC: Israel Adesanya looking for easy fights according to Uriah Hall

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This weekend at UFC Vegas 12, Uriah Hall (15-9) will get to fight the biggest name of his career. Hall will be taking on the legend, Anderson Silva (34-10, 1 NC), in what will be Silva’s final fight with the UFC.

However, Hall still has his eyes focused on the top of the middleweight division. Hall participated in a Zoom media day yesterday where he talked about the UFC‘s current middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya. Hall had strong words for the champion.

“Adesanya is picking his fights man. He sees holes in all these guys, and he was already picking Cannonier. He’s looking for easy fights. Yeah I said it,” Hall told the media yesterday. It’s clear that primetime isn’t impressed with who Adesanya has on his hit list.

Uriah Hall has won back-to-back fights and is now ranked 10th in the middleweight division. He was originally supposed to face former title challenger Yoel Romero back in August, however, Romero had to pull out of the fight. 

Is the UFC champion dodging tough fights?

I get what Hall is trying to do ahead of UFC Vegas 12, however, his argument doesn’t hold a lot of weight. On his way to winning the UFC middleweight title, Adesanya has pretty much gone through everyone that he needed to go through.

When you look at the top ten at middleweight, Adesanya has defeated half of them. Most of them in spectacular fashion. Maybe Hall is referring to himself in thinking that he would present the toughest challenge for the current UFC champion.

Either way, you can’t say that Adesanya has dodged fights or he’s looked to take the easy road. If Hall is able to win on Saturday night, he might only be one or two wins away realistically from getting a UFC title shot.

The Silva fight is fun for his career, however, the Romero fight would have been much better for his career. If Hall can win, he’ll need to fight someone in the top five. Get a win in the top five and maybe he can be the tough fight that apparently Adesanya has been dodging.

Is Anderson Silva hedging on retirement ahead of UFC Vegas 12?

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UFC, Anderson Silva

This Saturday night at UFC Vegas 12, former middleweight champion, Anderson Silva (34-10, 1), will be taking on Uriah Hall (15-9) The fight is supposed to be the final fight of Silva’s legendary career inside the octagon. Or so we thought.

Silva came out and said a little over a week ago that this would be his last fight in the UFC. Silva has two fights left with the promotion, but himself and Dana White said that this was his retirement fight. However, Silva seems to be changing his tune ahead of the fight.

Yesterday, Silva appeared on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show to discuss the upcoming fight and his future. Silva told Helwani, “Maybe I don’t fight anymore in the UFC. Of course, I’d go fight outside (the UFC). Why? Because the people can’t stop my job.”

That certainly doesn’t sound like someone who’s hanging up their gloves on Saturday night. Silva continued to say, “This is the last fight in the UFC. Of course, I could go fight in other event, I don’t know. But right now, it’s my last fight in the UFC.”

Should Silva fight outside the UFC?

As stated above, Silva will still have one fight left on his contract after this fight is over. Silva is sounding like someone who’s willing to explore other fighting avenues outside the UFC. However, I really don’t think that he should.

The Spider has been a legend with the promotion. His middleweight title run was absolutely incredible. When he was at his absolute best, he might have been the greatest that the sport has ever seen. However, he hasn’t been that guy for a while now.

It’s astonishing that the 45 year old can still hang. He even won a round against Israel Adesanya two years ago when they fought. Silva loves the sport and you can tell that he still wants to compete, but the UFC might be forcing his hand.

There comes a time where all fighters have to say goodbye. Sure, Silva could beat some lower level guys, but his time as an elite mixed martial artist are gone. I really hope he’s able to put on a good performance Saturday then hang it up. There’s nothing left for Silva to prove.

Anderson Silva confirms next UFC fight will be his final one

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UFC, Anderson Silva

The career of one of the greatest mixed martial artists the world has ever known is coming to an end. Next Saturday night, UFC legend and former middleweight champion, Anderson Silva (34-10,1 NC) will make the walk for the final time in his career.

When the fight was discussed, Dana White hinted that this would be the final UFC fight for Silva. However, Silva told MMA Junkie yesterday that this would in fact be the final time that fans would see him fight inside a UFC octagon.

“For sure, this is the last fight. Probably. I love the sport. I’ve prepared my mind for this. I’ve prepared for fight my entire life, but yes, this is my last fight in UFC. I feel sad because I don’t have this anymore. This is the last one,” Silva told MMA Junkie.

Silva’s run of dominance inside the UFC has only been matched by Jon Jones. He is by far one of the greatest to ever do it, and he has his chance to go out on top next week. However, the fight is not going to be an easy one.

UFC Vegas 12 Main Event

Standing across Silva next Saturday night will be Uriah Hall (15-9). Hall rose to fame in his stint on the Ultimate Fighter where he reminded so many fans of the UFC champion at the time which was Anderson Silva.

Hall looked like he was going to be a title contender right out of the gate. However, Hall never truly lived up to the potential of being the superstar people thought he would be. Instead, his career has been filled with ups in downs.

That being said, he will enter UFC Vegas 12 on a two fight winning streak and having gone 3-1 in his last four fights. It should be a fun striking matchup for the fans next Saturday. The perfect stylistic opponent for Silva to go out on. It will be a fun but sad evening at UFC Vegas 12 regardless of the results.