Anderson Silva is a MMA legend who could bow out on Saturday… the Spider will hope to cast Uriah Hall in his web at UFC Vegas 12

Anderson Silva will go toe-to-toe with fellow middleweight Uriah Hall this Saturday in the Main Event at UFC Vegas 12, a fight that could be his last ever under the UFC brand.

Silva, also known as ‘The Spider’, has been part of Dana White’s company for 14 years now after signing in 2006 and will compete in his 25^th bout at the weekend.

Despite having one fight left on his contract after the weekend, he has expressed doubts over whether he will take up that offer.

The Brazilian said: ‘Maybe it’s the last fight in the UFC, yes, in agreement between Dana and I.

‘We’ll see, maybe I’ll do the other fight on my contract but maybe not. Anything can happen.’

Silva comes into Saturday having won just one of his last eight encounters, albeit some of these against top competitors like Israel Adesanya and Daniel Cormier.

The 45-year-old steps into the octagon for the first time since May 2019 and will be looking to go out with a bang against an opponent who is building some momentum of his own.

While all the focus will be on Silva and potentially the second major UFC retirement in just a week (following on from Khabib Nurmagomedov last weekend), Hall is quietly proving he could be a real contender heading into next year.

He is currently the No 10 ranked UFC middleweight, in comparison to Silva who is unranked due to his inactivity.

The Jamaican has won his last two fights against Bevon Lewis and Antonio Carlos Junior, building up a head of steam going into Saturday.

Like Silva, he has not fought since 2019 but will have age on his side being 11 years younger than his opponent.

Hall originally made a name for himself in the 17^th season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ after winning all four of his fights and bursting onto the scene in the UFC.

His career has slowly built since then, and he will face his biggest test to date on Saturday.

Speaking ahead of the bout, Hall admitted: ‘It was a dream to meet Anderson Silva, and another dream to go up against him.

‘It’s about discipline and creating that mindset of what needs to be done and separating the distractions from that.

‘A win over Anderson is more personal and for me it’s more personal because I’m going against one of the best.’

The fight takes place on Saturday with the main card starting at around 11pm, and the main event estimated to start at roughly 1am into the early hours of Sunday.

By Alistair Pollock