MMA fans could be forgiven for thinking Ryan Hall had retired.
The Ultimate Fighter 22 winner has been MIA since picking up a unanimous decision win over Darrick Minner to stretch his MMA record to 9-2 at UFC 269 in December 2021.
Since then, the last man to beat him, Ilia Topuria, has won five consecutive fights, claimed the featherweight title, and defended it by knocking out Max Holloway at UFC 308.
Meanwhile, ‘The Wizard’ has been dealing with a plethora of health issues.
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Ryan Hall explains his three-year layoff
Ryan Hall recently revealed that a series of unfortunate events have kept him sidelined for three years.
“Basically, the most serious unfortunate health stuff that I have ever experienced in my life,” Hall said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com.
“I’ve had 21 general anesthesia surgeries since that fight, sorry 19, there were two prior. I got fallen on, tore my ACL, had to fix a plantar plate, got fallen on again, and had to have a tightrope surgery the one that Pat Mahomes and a couple of other people have had.
“The ACL got infected, had to have a couple of septic arthritis. The tight rope, I was actually allergic to the hardware they put in my somehow, so had to have that re-done. It’s been interesting but on the back end of it.”
“I went 15 years completely bulletproof I ended up getting fallen on and tore my hip right before that fight and I didn’t know how much that really affected me.
“At that point, it was 17 years of combat sports, so you spend all that time competing and training. The same thing that makes you tough can do you in.
“It’s been interesting because more than half of the surgeries I have had are ‘Oops, we screwed that one up, let’s do that again.’ I had six elbow surgeries and five knee surgeries.
“As a patient, you can’t vet doctors and medical staff. There was a period of time when I was in daily pain, but being on the back side, I never lost hope that I’d be back.”
Ryan Hall hopes to return very soon
Thankfully, Hall appears to be at the tail end of his injury crisis.
The 39-year-old, who boasts high-profile wins over Artem Lobov, Gray Maynard, and BJ Penn hopes he’ll make his return to action during the first few months of 2025.
Right now, he’s just frustrated to have lost a big chunk of his career, especially after seeing what Topuria has gone on to achieve since their fight.
Hall added: “I had long stretches of time that no one would fight me. I’d get declined. Turns out, your only loss is under difficult circumstances (to the champ).
“I had a bunch of injuries going into that fight, and he’s a great fighter. The only fight you have lost is to the current champ.
“I had just signed on to fight Pat Sabatini and that’s when I tore my ACL. That was the beginning of this saga. It is frustrating because you think of what could be or what could have been.”