MMA world pays tribute to Anderson Silva after his final fight in the UFC

In the aftermath of the main event of tonight's UFC Vegas 12 event, it was evident how much respect middleweight contender Uriah Hall has for his counterpart on the night, the legendary Anderson Silva.

Hall earned a 4th round TKO finish against Anderson Silva in what was the last fight of the latter's glorious career inside the Octagon. Anderson Silva started the fight brightly, using his feints to deceive Hall while stinging him with some vicious shots.

However, as the fight progressed, Hall started looking like the stronger man, dominating the former middleweight champion on the feet in the third round. Early on in the fourth round, Hall dropped Anderson Silva with a punch that caught the Brazilian flush coming in, and followed up with a series of punches on the ground to finish the fight.

Immediately after the fight, Hall broke down into tears, expressing his gratitude towards Anderson Silva for being an inspiration to him. Hall sat down with Silva on the mat as the pair exchanged kind words.

“Thank you. You’re the reason why I’m doing this,” Hall said to Silva. “You’re still one of the greatest. I love you. I’m so sorry.”

Following the fight, Anderson Silva said that this was his last fight inside the Octagon but did not reveal whether it was the last fight in his MMA career. Speaking to his former foe Michael Bisping, “The Spider” said that he will go back home, speak to his family, his team, and then decide on his future.

“I don’t know, first I go back home, and I go see with my team [about] everything,” he said. “It’s tough to say it’s my last, because this is my air. Let’s go see.”

Tributes pour in as the MMA world reacts to Anderson Silva's final UFC fight