Michael Bisping has dubbed Anderson Silva 'one of the greatest martial artists' in UFC history after he knocked out Tito Ortiz on Saturday night. 

Silva (34-11, 1 NC) won ten of his fights by knockout and made ten title defences during his seven-year reign as UFC middleweight champion. 

Bisping had a number of high-profile bust-ups with Silva during the build-up to their fight in February 2016, and most famously mocked the Brazilian for blaming 'Thai sex pills' for his failed drugs test in 2015. 

But in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, which currently boasts over 150,000 subscribers, Bisping was full of praise for his former rival. 

The British MMA legend said: “Anderson Silva is one of the greatest martial artists that the human race has ever seen.

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"He is a modern-day Bruce Lee, I'm telling you, Anderson Silva truly is one of the greatest of all time, and that is just a fact.

"That is the reason that when I fought this man, when I fought Anderson Silva, I left no stone unturned. I was the most disciplined I was in any training camp.

"I always wanted to fight Anderson when he was the champ and when he lost the belt and I finally got a chance to face him.

"Still, for me, that was my world championship. At that point, I hadn't fought for the belt, so for me fighting Anderson, I'm like okay, well if this is as good as it gets for me facing Anderson Silva in London at the O2 Arena, that's a big deal.

"I was so motivated, I was so disciplined going into that training camp, because you have to be. 

“Now listen, Tito said he’s going to go out there and punch a hole in his head and he’s a fighter all the rest of it, and he ain’t going to use none of that wing-chun b------- on him.

"That is not the way you fight Anderson Silva. You can’t go in against Anderson Silva and be aggressive... No way.

"Anderson Silva’s timing is impeccable, his reflexes are cat-like, urban cat-like, and the diversity of attacks that Anderson Silva has is mind-blowing...

"Tito should have known coming into this fight against Anderson that you have to be strategic.”

Anderson Silva knocks out Tito Ortiz in the first round

Both fighters left the UFC under very different circumstances with Bisping swapping the gloves for the microphone several years ago and the UFC releasing Silva in November.  

Bisping also suggested that Silva should fight Jake Paul while he admits he is unsure about what the future holds for Ortiz. 

“What’s next for Anderson Silva? I don’t know but every part of my body says that if Jake Paul really wants a tough test, then Anderson Silva is your man,” he added.

“Look no further, you think you’ve got what it takes and you want to pick off somebody that’s not in their prime?

"Anderson Silva is 46, many knockouts now, he’s long in the tooth, a battle-worn veteran.

"But Anderson Silva will give you everything you don’t want, Jake Paul, so be careful.”

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