UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya admits he’s intrigued by the stylistic matchup between Uriah Hall and Anderson Silva.
Hall (15-7 MMA, 8-9 UFC) faces Silva (34-10 MMA, 17-6 UFC) in the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 39 on Oct. 31 in a battle between two of the most dynamic strikers on the roster.
Though former UFC middleweight champ Silva has lost four of his past five, he showed shades of his peak form in his unanimous decision loss to Adesanya at UFC 234 in February 2019.
Having shared the octagon with Silva, Adesanya says he won’t count out “The Spider,” but thinks Hall’s route to victory is a relatively straightforward one, providing “Prime Time” sticks to his fighting fundamentals.
“I just want to watch something crazy, because I think Uriah is gonna bring all that. Uriah should be basic and he can win this fight, but Anderson is crafty,” Adesanya told MMA Junkie. “I’ve been in there with him, I’ve watched him for years and he can win this fight quite easily. He might even stop Uriah but, I’m telling you, if Uriah just sticks to basics he might give him problems, but this is fighting.”
Silva hinted that his fight against Hall will be his final one, but Adesanya admits that he would have liked their “Fight of the Night” battle to have been Silva’s retirement fight.
“It’s a good way to send him off,” Adesanya said. “I would have liked to be the guy to send him off, but Uriah I think is a good stylistic matchup to send him off.”