UFC Taking Right Approach to Develop Uriah Hall

By Adam Martin

A few months ago, Uriah Hall knocked out Adam Cella on “The Ultimate Fighter” with one of the most brutal spinning hook kicks ever seen inside the Octagon. It was a win that garnered the mostly-unknown Hall attention worldwide, but especially from UFC president Dana White, who wasn’t afraid to talk about his admiration for Hall and how “scary” he was.

But at the TUF 17 Finale, Hall fought Team Sonnen teammate Kelvin Gastelum, and in a fight he was supposed to win, dropped a split decision, losing the TUF final, and having many of his supposed ‘fans’ jump off his bandwagon.

After the fight, Hall admitted that the magnitude of the moment got to him. He said he had never been in a situation like that, a co-main event of a UFC card with lights everywhere and tons of media attention, and admitted he cracked under the pressure. The fact that he can admit the ‘Octagon jitters’ were an issue for him is impressive, but it’s also a bit troubling that one of the ‘scariest’ men to ever step foot on TUF, as White claimed, couldn’t handle the spotlight.

Since TUF, Hall has left Team Tiger Schulman and has taken his wares to Reign Training Center, where he’s now working with stud wrestlers Mark Munoz and Jake Ellenberger in an effort to shore up the one area of his game that needs the most work – his grappling. It’s a great move for Hall at this point of his career, and he’ll be much better off for it.

Last night, the UFC announced that Hall’s sophomore UFC effort will take place in Boston this summer at UFC Fight Night 26, where he’ll take on veteran Nick Ring in a preliminary card bout. It’s a fight that he should — at least on paper — win, and it’s a fight that should help gain him confidence and get him back on track.

While Ring is a very solid vet, he’s definitely on the decline at this point of his career, and in Hall, he’ll be facing a very hungry and determined fighter with his back up against the wall. It’s a bad fight for Ring, if you ask me, but it’s a great fight for Hall, as he’ll likely be able to demonstrate just why White and many others said he was going to be a future champion in the UFC.

I like the fight for two reasons. The first is that it’s not throwing Hall to the wolves, but it still gives him a tough opponent with a recognizable name, who he should still wipe the floor with. And the second reason I like it is because it will be a preliminary card bout, which means there will be less pressure on Hall, and that should only make him more comfortable in the cage as he tries to grab his first win in the UFC.

I picked Gastelum to upset Hall at the TUF 17 Finale because I believe Gastelum is one of the best prospects the UFC’s middleweight division has seen in a long time, and I knew how underrated he was going into the fight (his +300 betting line didn’t hurt, either).

But I know just how good Hall is, too, and I know he can still be a contender. And on August 17, his journey to the top begins – again.

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UFC Fight Night 26: Shogun vs. Sonnen is due to take place on August 17, 2013 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

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