Michael Bisping posts heartfelt message to Anderson Silva ahead of final UFC fight

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva will be competing in the final fight of his historic UFC career tomorrow, as The Spider gets set for a final showdown against Uriah Hall. Ahead of Anderson Silva's final UFC fight, a former UFC Middleweight Champion and Silva's nemesis, Michael Bisping, took to Instagram and sent a heartfelt message for The Spider.

In his latest Instagram post, Michael Bisping shared several images from his iconic fight against Anderson Silva. The former UFC Middleweight Champion recalled that in the lead-up to his fight against The Spider, Bisping, in typical Mike Bisping fashion, did a lot of trash-talking against Anderson Silva. However, that didn't change the fact that The Spider has always motivated Michael Bisping as well.

Michael Bisping even added that seeing Anderson Silva destroy his opponents with such ease was always mind-blowing. Furthermore, Bisping - who won the UFC Middleweight title down the road - claimed that his goal was to challenge Anderson Silva for the 185-lb title, and when the duo finally collided in 2016, the fight wasn't for the belt but for something even bigger: pride.

The former UFC Middleweight Champion lastly concluded his message with backstage images of him and Anderson Silva getting stitched up after their brutal fight in London. Check out Michael Bisping's incredible post below:

View this post on Instagram

Tomorrow is the final time Anderson Silva will compete in the octagon so this feels an appropriate time to post these. Leading up to our fight, in typical fashion I talked a lot of shit. But just because I said some harsh words doesn’t change the fact that I have incredible respect for him. Anderson was a huge inspiration to me throughout his whole career. Seeing him destroy his opponents with such creativity and relative ease was mind blowing and I think everyone in mixed martial arts felt the same way. When he was champion he had what I wanted and I wanted to challenge him for the belt so badly. When we fought in 2016 it wasn’t for the belt but it was for something possibly bigger. Pride. And to me, this was my world title fight. With my injuries piling up I could sense the end of my career was coming and if I could finish it with a win over Anderson, in London? Well that would of done me just fine. When I was talking shit, that was because I couldn’t allow myself to put him on a pedestal mentally otherwise I wouldn’t of fought to the best of my ability. I had to think of him as nothing more than another opponent and find reasons to disrespect him and discredit his accomplishments. After the fight like usually in most fights the animosity is gone and it’s all respect. Here’s Anderson and I getting stitched up backstage sharing a handshake. I don’t know if he will retire for good, but if you do, congratulations on a simply amazing career. #respect

A post shared by Mikebisping (@mikebisping) on Oct 30, 2020 at 9:18pm PDT

Anderson Silva's final UFC fight

While there has been some confusion regarding Anderson Silva retiring from combat sports altogether, tomorrow night will be The Spider's final fight in the UFC. The former UFC Middleweight Champion has competed against the very best in the business and holds some of the most memorable wins in UFC history over the likes of Vitor Belfort, Forest Griffin, and Chael Sonnen.

In his final match, The Spider will cross paths with the dangerous Uriah Hall in the main event of UFC Vegas 12. Fans around the world will hope for one last epic Anderson Silva fight in the UFC.