Jamaican Wins Major UFC Title Fight

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Nov. 2, 2020: Jamaican Uriah Hall emerged the winner by TKO of a hard-fought UFC title fight Saturday night.

Hall, who was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica before moving to NYC at age 13, stopped Brazilian Anderson Silva at 1 minutes, 24 seconds of the fourth round Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. The card took place in front of no fans at the UFC Apex, a venue across the street from the UFC’s corporate campus.

Silva, widely considered one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, was clipped with a right hand and then finished with a flurry on the ground by Hall.

But in what was the best moment of the fight, the two stunned UFC fans by both knelling down on the mat, head to head, and clasping each other’s hands after the fight as blood poured from Silva’s face.

“I love you,” Hall told Silva. “You’re still one of the greatest.”

Hall (16-9) has won three straight and four of his past five. The Jamaica native, who trains out of Fortis MMA in Dallas and was once touted as potentially the next Silva following a highlight-reel spinning back kick knockout on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show in 2013.

Hall, 36, has won seven of his nine UFC victories by KO/TKO. His seven UFC middleweight knockouts is tied for third in division history. Silva and Thiago Santos are tied for first with eight, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.

Hall got into marital arts because he was bullied at school in Queens, NY. He is a second degree blackbelt in Tiger Schulmann’s Mixed Martial Arts under Tiger Schulmann and also competed as a kickboxer in the World Combat League.