Silva Prepares For Upcoming Octagon Return

By
Nathan Rogers
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With the dust settling on UFC 254, it is far to say that the MMA world is in a state of shock and after the retirement of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Dana White will be looking for another box office star to take his place.

Thankfully as far as White is concerned, no one fighter is ever bigger than the brand (even if they would like to think they are) and this means that his conveyor belt of talent will soon put another name in the spotlight.

A name that has been in the spotlight in the past and when you mention the name Anderson Silva, it conjures up memories of his dominance in the Middleweight division between April 2006 and October 2012.

During that time Silva won an incredible 16 straight UFC bouts and at their number 64 event, the Brazilian would get the better of then champion Rich Franklin, to then become the king of the Middleweight class.

That victory was just the second in such a dominant run and after becoming the champion, he would make light work of many a legendary name, as the likes of Chael Sonnen (twice), Dan Henderson and Stephan Bonnar tasted defeat.

However, all good things must come to an end and that is exactly what happened back in July 2013, as Silva’s Middleweight reign of terror would finally come to an end, as he was beaten by Chris Wiedman.

The shock defeat at UFC 162 meant that a rematch clause was to be invoked and even though losing the title to Wiedman in the first bout was a low point in his career, his display at UFC 168 was arguably a lot worse.

Because this is the night that “The Spider” suffered a sickening leg injury during the fight and after Weidman checked one of his opponent’s legendary kicks, the force of outgoing movement broke Silva’s own left fibula and tibia.

Unable to finish the fight, a TKO decision against him was subsequently awarded and instead of a second stint as Middleweight king, a lengthy period of rehabilitation would soon be appearing on the horizon.

Since that injury, the Sao Paulo born fighter has never quite been the same and in his last eight UFC fights (including the two Wiedman title clashes), the now 45-year-old has come out on top on just one solitary occasion.

That was back at UFC 208, as he got the better of Derek Brunson and although that night would see his 34th MMA career win recorded, he has since suffered back to back defeats to both Israel Adesanya and Jared Canonnier.

However, Dana White is not ready to put one of his biggest names out to pasture and with the next UFC: Fight Night card taking place on Halloween, an opportunity to earn a 35th career MMA win has now been made available.

One that sees Uriah Hall serve as the opponent and with this fight originally being scheduled for May 2016, the fact that it is four years in the making, should only serve to add further fuel to an already sizeable fire.

Hall has won his last two UFC outings and walks into Saturday’s headline fight with an overall MMA record of 15-9. While because of this emerging streak of success, the favorite on SBR’s UFC betting hub is none other than the 36-year old Jamaican born fighter.

Now fighting out of New York, Hall finds himself at the tempting price of -180 and when you consider just how poor a run of form his opponent has had of late, this should be where the smart money ends up going.

Currently ranked as the No. 10 Middleweight, Hall will certainly look to this fight as a stepping stone to move up the ladder and if he can get the better of his more senior foe, a tilt at the title edges ever closer.

Then again, some will argue that this a fight that is nothing more than routine for “Prime Time” and failure to get the better of the former Middleweight champion will only go on to hurt his own championship prospects.

With Silva being priced at +155, there is not a great deal of confidence from the knowledgeable in MMA punters and it might mean that come Halloween, “The Spider” is exterminated once and for all.