It’s been almost two years since Ryan Hall’s last fight, but The Ultimate Fighter 22 winner looks to be finally ready to return to action.
MMA Fighting confirmed an earlier report from Adjara Sport that the featherweight veteran is set to face rising prospect Ilia Topuria at UFC 264 on July 10th.
Hall (8-1) has had a hard time both staying healthy and finding an opponent. His most recent appearance inside the Octagon was a unanimous decision over Darren Elkins in July 2019. The dangerous submission grappler memorably submitted B.J. Penn with a heel hook in 2018. Hall was initially scheduled to fight Ricardo Lamas last year, but it was postponed due to the pandemic and then cancelled when Ryan suffered an injury. A March showdown with Dan Ige was planned before Hall withdrew due to a hip injury.
Topuria (10-0) is one of the more intriguing prospects in the featherweight division. He won his UFC debut last October by unanimous decision against Youssef Zalal, then looked sensational in his first-round KO of Damon Jackson in December. Seven of his wins have come by submission and the Zalal fight represents the only time he’s ever gone the distance in his career.
UFC 264 is headlined by the trilogy matchup between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor. It’ll be the first full house show in Las Vegas since UFC 248 in March of last year.
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