Uriah Hall recounts fighting and retiring Anderson Silva from UFC: "My idol is my rival"
Uriah Hall recently recounted his bout against Anderson Silva, which saw him retire a fighter he viewed as one of his idols. Hall noted that his mentality was different when fighting the Brazilian compared to when he fought other opponents.
The bout headlined UFC Vegas 12 in 2020 and was 'The Spider's first bout back following a lengthy layoff. Silva was looking to get back in the win column as he had lost his two previous bouts against Jared Cannonier and Israel Adesanya, while Hall had won his two previous bouts.
During his appearance on Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson's JAXXON PODCAST, the former TUF competitor described fighting the UFC Hall of Famer. Hall admitted that he held back on some of his strikes and mentioned that it took until the fighter introduction before it set in that he was fighting Silva. He said:
"The moment it hit me was when he did a spider pose in front of me and I was like, 'Oh, f***, I'm fighting Anderson Silva'. Like, it never hit me my entire camp until that moment...I held back because...he inspired me so much. I learned everything from him. My idol is my rival, I'm fighting him. So I didn't check out that mentality yet...I didn't want to hurt him...I just knew everything about him and shut him down."
Check out Uriah Hall's comments below:
What was the aftermath of Uriah Hall vs. Anderson Silva?
Uriah Hall and Anderson Silva went through similar paths following their bout at UFC Vegas 12.
Silva was officially released from his UFC contract, which allowed him to pursue other options. He did just that as he transitioned to boxing and since competed in several bouts against the likes of Jake Paul and former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Hall, on the other hand, retired from MMA less than two years later in August 2022 and has also made a transition to boxing. He is scheduled to return to the ring on July 20, where he will take on Chavez Jr. on the undercard of the Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry event.
Check out Uriah Hall's post-fight interview following his win over Le'Veon Bell below: