Silva, the long-time former UFC middleweight champion and pound-for-pound great, stepped inside the Octagon one last time at UFC Vegas 12 last weekend. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a storybook ending for The Spider, who wound up losing via fourth-round TKO to surging middleweight contender Uriah Hall.
In attendance that night at the UFC Apex was Adesanya, who had shared the Octagon with Silva before, and has openly expressed his admiration for Brazilian legend.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Adesanya shared that he opted to give Silva some space after the fight, instead of walking up and saying something.
Adesanya continued by saying that he was content to just watch the moment unfold from afar.
‘The Last Stylebender’ did mention a particular moment that did get him emotional, referring to Silva taking presumably one last bow in the middle of the Octagon.
Israel Adesanya following in Anderson Silva’s dominant footsteps
With each spectacular victory, reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is looking like the most dominant 185-pounder in the UFC since the legendary Anderson Silva.
Adesanya took hold of the middleweight crown by dethroning a great champion in Robert Whittaker, just like what Silva did to Rich Franklin back in 2006. Adesanya is also taking down the best challengers in the division, much like what ‘The Spider’ did back in his run as the middleweight king.
Now, Adesanya is also heading up to the 205-pound division for a new challenge, like what Silva did multiple times before. The only difference is that Adesanya will be challenging for the UFC light heavyweight championship.
While ‘The Last Stylebender’ is seemingly following in the footsteps of Silva, a championship win at the light heavyweight division will definitely open up a different path to greatness for Adesanya.
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