TAMPA, Fla. – A rejuvenated Uriah Hall mentally is in his best place in years, and he has his sights set on avenging a past loss.
Hall is currently riding a two-fight winning streak, and he wants Derek Brunson next. Hall lost via first-round TKO to Brunson in 2016 and would like nothing more than to run it back.
It’s safe to say he’s not Brunson’s biggest fan.
“Well, we know Derek Brunson. He’s going to try to talk smack,” Hall told MMA Junkie. “One time he got my number, I don’t know how he got my number and I’m not going to lie, I was ready to do something really bad where I could have gotten arrested, but you don’t play like that. Putting my number on social media, something about (Donald) Trump, ‘Oh, this is Trump’s number. You should call him.’ And I was like … a couple of homies had to talk me out of it. I’m from the hood. You don’t do stuff like that, but I’m almost embarrassed that I lost to Brunson.”
Since the loss to Brunson, Hall (15-9 MMA, 8-7 UFC) had alternated wins and losses before back-to-back wins over Bevon Lewis and Antonio Carlos. He recently started training at Fortis MMA in Texas and has regained the motivation and killer instinct that once made him one of the more feared fighters in the division.
Hall believes the referee stepped in too early in his stoppage loss to Brunson and vows that things would go differently if they squared off again.
“The way he won, it was like what? Really? And, of course, Herb Dean saved him,” Hall said. “That’s the fight I want. I know I can beat him. I’m in the best place where I can do it. I saw his last fight; they were saying that he did a good job. I thought that it was sloppy, but I know I can beat him. He’s nothing compared to me now. He got lucky. Like I said, I’m embarrassed how he won, and he can sit there and say whatever he wants, but he doesn’t want to fight me now because he knows the threat that I possess right now.”
Hall would like to squeeze one more fight in before the end of the year, but he doesn’t think Brunson would take it. Brunson is also back on the winning track, but Hall believes they’re in two completely different points in their careers.
“I’d love to fight before the year ends if he’s up for it,” Hall said. “I don’t know if they’ll protect him, or he’s protecting himself, or he’s looking to … that dude ain’t going to be champ. He’s not going to be champ. He’s like a gatekeeper. People say I’m a gatekeeper, but I was just stalling. I was just chilling at the gate. I didn’t know I could just open the gate and go in, you know what I’m saying? But he’s just actually chilling, so I know I’m going to get him and just take him out the way.
“He’s just a stepping stone. At the end of the day, it’s business, man. A stepping stone. He’s in my way. He’s ranked, what, (No. 8)? It makes perfect sense. He’s coming off a win, I’m coming off a win. It makes perfect sense.”
