Getty Ryan Hall
Former top-15 UFC featherweight Ryan Hall has gone under the knife 16 times as he tries to make it back into the Octagon.
It’s been over a year since fans saw the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace competing under the UFC banner. Hall (9-2) fought Darrick Minner at UFC 269 in December 2021 and earned a unanimous decision victory. Prior to that, “The Wizard” suffered his first defeat in the promotion in July 2021 at UFC 264 when Ilia Topuria knocked him out.
Hall spoke with MMA Junkie recently and he gave the outlet an update on his career. In short, The Wizard has been battling a multitude of different injuries since before his contest with Topuria.
“It’s a bit of a saga,” Hall said. “I spent about 10 years not being injured, then I just got a couple of bad luck (injuries), like getting fallen on a couple of times. (I) tore a hip flexor really badly prior to my first fight in 2021, and had a really, really bad tear in the bottom of my foot. So a lot of things started to add up. I broke my hand in that first fight in 2021, had that fight in December, and then went into the next year.
“I was going to do ADCC, going to do some competitions, and I had actually just agreed to a fight in August of 2022, but unfortunately got fallen on, tore my ACL, tore my meniscus and it’s been 16 surgeries since.”
However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the 38-year-old combatant.
“But we’re on the back end of it, and I just had one on Tuesday, but it’s fortunately going in the right direction,” Hall continued. “I’m looking forward to being back healthy, feeling better than I have in a very, very long time, and looking forward to competing again soon.”
Hall Will Compete in a BJJ Match in June, Hopes to Return to UFC in August or September
The Wizard will be back to active competition in the coming months. He’s set to headline Polaris 24 on June 4 opposite Ashley Williams for the lightweight championship. And if the grappling match physically goes well for Hall, he hopes to be back fighting by August or September.
“MMA is all I care about,” The Wizard said. “I want to come back and I want to continue. I spent years being in the rankings and got dropped for inactivity because of bad luck and people not being willing to fight. I had a bad luck loss and could have done some things better. But breaking your hand, getting head-butted, having all sorts of injuries before the fight – that was frustrating. But I managed to end 2021 on a good note, and I just want to get back to pushing forward and growing and learning and moving back to fighting the best guys I can.
“My hope is to compete around, realistically, August-September and then try and get in two this year.”
Hall Wants to Avenge His Loss to Topuria, Eyeing Highly Ranked Opponent ‘Like Bryce Mitchell’ for His Comeback Bout
Topuria is the name Hall wants to fight. But, “El Matador” has rattled off two victories since their meeting and is currently ranked No. 9 at 145 pounds. Realistically, Topuria is ranked too high for Hall to get a rematch at this juncture. So, he showed interest in fighting a man Topuria recently submitted, No. 11 Bryce Mitchell.
But mostly, Hall wants an opportunity at reinstating himself as a ranked featherweight.
“I would of course want a rematch with Ilia Topuria,” Hall said. “Obviously he’s been doing very well, so that would be a little bit of a ways away. But in the meantime, I would love to compete against somebody like Bryce Mitchell, who’s a very good fighter (or) other people like that – anybody that would push me forward and be a big challenge and all of those people would.”