During season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter 17, Uriah Hall was dubbed “The TUF Beast” after he sent a string of opponents to the hospital. In his fight to get into the house, Hall beat Andy Enz, sending him to the hospital with a broken arm. During episode 3, Hall beat Adam Cella via head kick; the KO was declared the most vicious knockout seen by Dana White over The Ultimate Fighter’s eight year history. Again, his opponent went to the hospital. In the quarter-finals Hall fought Bubba McDaniel of Team Jones, knocking him out with a right straight counter-punch in the first round. The single punch broke McDaniel’s face in three places, and again sent the opponent to the hospital.
However, Hall enjoyed far less success when Ronda Rousey showed up on set, during episode 10, to show Team Sonnen some Judo. The then UFC women’s bantamweight champion tapped Hall out, twice.
“She kicked my ass, man,” said Hall. “She threw me around on national TV… That arm-bar is legit…”
The entire roll was not shown on the episode, but it was later released in its entirety.
Practice is just that – practice. And to a certain extent, what happens in practice should stay in practice. What happened doesn’t mean Rousey would win in a real fight – they are after all in divisions 50 pound apart. It is just a neat thing on its own, without any speculation as to larger meaning. It is beautiful that technique can defeat size, given sufficient time.
Rousey was impressed that Team Sonnen members kept their cool during the sparring sessions, despite the fact that a lot of far larger professional male fighters were getting tapped in practice.
A lot of the guys I roll with, I call it “testosterone poisoning”—where I get a couple of [moves] on them and they try to rough me up back because they get frustrated.
[Team Sonnen] kept their composure and it’s a quality that’s very valuable in fighters. If you can’t keep your composure in practice against some chick, if you’re in a ring with some dude swinging at your head, you’re not going keep your composure there, y’know?
Hall was impressed too.
Uriah Hall is currently the #11 ranked middleweight in the UFC.
