UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Hall Preview

Anderson Silva will (allegedly) make the walk to the famous octagon one last time this Saturday night. His last dance partner in the UFC Apex is Uriah Hall in the 185 pound middleweight division which the Brazilian once made his own for own best part of a decade.

Silva has given us, as Mixed Martial Arts fans, quite the ride throughout his storied career. His nice guy persona outside the octagon was thrown out the door each time he set foot inside the cage, a place where he felt most at home. Once he stepped through the door the nice guy image was replaced by a fierce competitor with a killer instinct.

There isn’t too much that I can say about the Brazilian that has not already been said through the years. The former middleweight champion gave us some memorable moments that will live long in our memories and in the history books of this young sport.

We should not dwell in his recent losses, instead we should celebrate an athlete who came into the UFC and turned the whole game on it’s head. His devastating striking and unpredictable nature while striking dazzled his opponents, his fans and the MMA community overall.

Upon his entry into the UFC back in 2006 Silva went on one of the most memorable run’s in the company’s history. He took out Chris Leben on his debut and quickly picked up the middleweight title with a knockout win over Rich Franklin. His first 8 fights under the UFC banner were all finishes. Throughout six years at the top he took out fighters such as Dan Henderson, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen in a absolute classic and made light work of the American gangster in the rematch.

Silva tested the waters at light heavyweight with fantastic wins over James Irvin, Stephan Bonnar and the highlight reel knockout of Forrest Griffin.

But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and that was the case for “The Spider” when he faced off against Chris Weidman.

At the time Silva looked unbeatable, nobody expected to see him laying unconscious on the canvas early in the second round. Turns out, Anderson Silva was human after all. The rematch brought an even bigger shock when Weidman checked Silva’s leg kick and the force of the impact broke the Brazilian’s leg, sending him to the sidelines for over a year. Sadly Silva returned from injury a shadow of his former self.

While the future Hall of Famer has struggled to remain in the win column, he has always been competitive in his most recent bouts. On Saturday night he finds himself fighting his supposed final fight against Uriah Hall.

Hall is currently on a two fight win streak with victories over Bevon Lewis in 2018 and Antônio Carlos Júnior in 2019. The Jamaican is known for his extravagant striking skills and has quite an impressive highlight reel of knockouts himself.

Stylistically this matchup suits both fighters. That will almost certainly be a stand up battle from start to finish. Silva has slowed down slightly but still remains a very crafty skillful fighter and we can all hope to see some flashes of his old self. This fight is Uriah Hall’s to lose, he will need to pace himself and hope to bring the fight into the latter rounds. In recent fights we have seen Silva slow down as the fight progresses and if that happens in this fight it will be to Hall’s advantage. All in all this is a very fun fight and I am really looking forward to seeing Anderson Silva fight one last time.

The co-main event is a fantastic encounter between the undefeated Bryce Mitchell and contender Andre Fili in the featherweight division. Mitchell, a BJJ whiz, takes on the veteran in Fili who has shared the cage with some of the best fighters in the 145 pound division.

Prior to that, Kevin Holland, who seems to be fighting every second weekend returns to fight UFC newcomer Charlie Ontiveros in the middleweight division, controversial former NFL star Greg Hardy returns to the heavyweight division to take on Maurice Greene while “King” Bobby Green will be looking to make it four in a row in the 155 pound division. Green will take on Thiago Moisés who is coming off an impressive submission victory over Michael Johnson. That bout opens up the main card.

The fight card in full can be seen below.

UFC Vegas 12 Main Card

Middleweight: Anderson Silva (34-10) vs. Uriah Hall (15-9)

Featherweight: Andre Fili (21-7) vs. Bryce Mitchell (13-0)
Middleweight: Kevin Holland (19-5) vs. Charlie Ontiveros (11-6)
Heavyweight: Maurice Greene (9-4) vs. Greg Hardy (6-2)
Lightweight: Bobby Green (27-10-1) vs. Thiago Moises (13-4)

UFC Vegas 12 Prelims Card

Lightweight: Chris Gruetzemacher (14-3) vs. Alexander Hernandez (11-3)
Bantamweight: Adrian Yanez (11-3) vs. Victor Rodriguez (7-2)
Middleweight: Sean Strickland (20-3) vs. Jack Marshman (23-9)
Welterweight: Cole Williams (11-2) vs. Jason Witt (17-6)
Light Heavyweight: Dustin Jacoby (12-5) vs. Justin Ledet (9-3)
Flyweight: Cortney Casey (9-8) vs. Priscila Cachoeira (9-3)
Bantamweight: Miles Johns (10-1) vs. Kevin Natividad (9-1)