Ryan Hall has not appeared in a UFC Octagon since his convincing decision win over Darren Elkins at UFC Fight Night: de Randamie vs. Ladd on July 13, 2019. When Hall was announced as the opponent for Dan Ige for a fight in early March, many had hoped their long wait to see ‘The Wizard’ return to competition was nearing its end.
However, last week Hall was forced to withdraw from that bout due to injury. Recently Hall spoke to Cole Shelton of bjpenn.com about what happened and where he wants to go from here.
“I tore my hip flexor. Almost ripped it off the bone when someone accidentally fell on me in training,” revealed Hall. “I tried to train through it and it made it worse. Went to the doctor, got an MRI, and will be out 8-12 weeks for a full recovery. In physical therapy every day now. I should be good to go by April.”
If he does return to action in April, after almost two years on the sideline, Hall said he has an opponent in mind.
“I hope to fight [Jeremy] Stephens or someone similar as soon as health allows which should be April or May. I would be very excited to face a challenge like him who is a super tough dude.”
Stephens currently sits at 8th in the UFC featherweight rankings, one spot higher than Hall’s previously booked opponent.
‘Lil’ Heathen’ is currently on a four fight losing skid with losses to Jose Aldo, Zabit Magomedsharipov, Yair Rodriguez and, most recently, Calvin Kattar.
Hall is 7-1 in his career, with his only loss coming in his professional debut back in 2006. In 2015, after a highly successful stint competing in international BJJ competitions, he appeared on The Ultimate Fighter’s 22nd season.
Hall was defeated by Saul Rogers in the quarter finals of that competition. However, due to Rogers having visa issues, Hall was given the chance to fight in the tournament final against Artem Lobov. He beat Lobov by unanimous decision.
Since that 2016 win Hall has fought three times, beating Gray Maynard by decision and BJ Penn by heel hook. After beating Elkins, Hall was booked to face Ricardo Lamas, but was forced to withdraw from that match-up because of injury.
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