In a horrific coincidence, Uriah Hall just could not believe he played a part in repeating the same freak injury that happened to Anderson Silva almost eight years ago. After checking Chris Weidman’s leg kick and snapping the former champion’s leg in half at UFC 261, ‘Prime Time’ was left traumatized by the whole turn of events.
In an interview with Combate, Hall explained what went through his mind when he checked the kick and saw Weidman’s leg break. Furthermore, it was no surprise that Anderson Silva’s fracture instantly came to his mind when Uriah understood what had really happened in front of him.
“It was really unfortunate, but at the same time fortunate, because a win is a win. I said earlier that, as a martial artist, it’s hard to accept that. As much as I wish him a speedy recovery, I know I owe him a fight in the future, no matter where I am in the rankings. It was a win, but in a very bad way. When he threw the kick, I heard a little snap. I thought it was the noise of the strike, because you get ready for the impact. I’ve done that before, when I broke the leg of a training partner. When Weidman fell backwards, I was like ‘Oh, god. It really happened. All those emotions of when Anderson Silva broke his leg came to surface. That was the first thing I thought about.”
The coincidences between Hall and Silva do not stop just at the injury, though. Uriah also points out how Weidman was the first man to knock out Anderson, while he was the last one to do so. All the eerie similarities seem to have gotten into Hall’s mind, making the win an even more unfortunate one;
“The most bizarre thing in this story is that Weidman was the first one to ever knock out Anderson Silva and I was the last man to beat him. He broke Anderson’s leg. What’s going here? In some way, our paths keep on crossing. It’s hard to celebrate something so unfortunate. As much as I feel emotionally well about it, I kind of want to get away from all of this. I’ve trained hard. Now I have plans to visit my mom. But if an opportunity comes, I’ll talk to my coaches and won’t run away from them.”
With the victory over Weidman, Hall (17-9) now finds himself on a four-fight winning streak, having bested Silva, Antonio Carlos Junior and Bevon Lewis before UFC 261. The 36-year-old’s last loss happened in July 2018, when he got TKO’d by top contender Paulo Costa.
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