Ryan Hall Names Fighters Who Refused To Face Him
A surging Hall has been trying to find another opponent to fight, but a lot of competitors have allegedly turned down the opportunity to face him and now Hall is naming those who have turned down the shot to compete against the TUF champion.
“It’s been a little bit of a struggle to find an opponent,” Hall said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “I’ve been directly turned down or been told they’re unavailable from 12 all the way down to 6, So that would be (Shane) Burgos, (Jose) Aldo, (Josh) Emmett, (Jeremy) Stephens, (Renato) Moicano, Frankie (Edgar), (Calvin) Kattar – pretty much everyone down to ‘Korean Zombie’ or Yair Rodriguez. He’s been unavailable, so it’s been a little bit tough to find an opponent. I was directly turned down by Josh Emmett. I was directly turned down by Renato Moicano. I guess there’s three guys in the division in Frankie Edgar, Jose Aldo and Renato Moicano, all of them very tough guys – and of course, Edgar and Aldo in particular, iconic figures – but they’re holding spots in the division that they’re not currently competing in, and it just seems like there’s a logjam that’s difficult to deal with.”
Hall is ranked #13 in the UFC Featherweight Division and is currently in the midst of an eight fight winning streak.
Although nobody has signed onto fight Hall at the moment, one thing he would like to do is compete again by May of this year.
“I’m hoping to fight in May, hopefully against the toughest opponents possible,” Hall said. “That’s always what I’ve asked for. That’s always what I’ve hoped for and always what I’ll be ready for. Also, I heard that there’s the potential for a Zabit (Magomedsharipov) and Brian Ortega fight, and if one of those guys stubs their toe and gets hurt, I’ve asked the UFC if I could be an alternate and slide in for that.”
There has been no comment from those named by Hall as to whether or not they have turned down the chance to face him.
