Ryan Hall - The Magnificent UFC “Wizard”

 “I hate losing a lot more than I like winning.” 

 (Ryan Christopher Hall) 

True to his words, Ryan Hall seldom tasted defeat. His unconventional talent, MMA record (9-2-0), and unparalleled combat style have made him the most fearsome submission artist. His unpredictability complements the volatile nature of the highest MMA event - the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Born on February 22, 1985, Ryan Hall hails from Arlington, Virginia, USA. Gifted in athleticism, Hall enjoyed an action-packed childhood. He used to compete in baseball, basketball, and American football.

In 2014, he enrolled at a martial arts gym in New York called Ronin Athletics and began jiu-jitsu training under Christian Montes.

Surprisingly, Hall was not bothered about grappling and enjoyed learning Thai boxing. Consequently, he tasted bitter defeat in almost every jiu-jitsu class. The defeats took a toll on Hall and he decided to seriously train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

In 2004, Hall participated in his first BJJ tournaments and got hooked on martial arts. Not the one to do things half-heartedly, he even quit school to devote all of his time to jiu-jitsu.

After learning the fundamentals of the sport and developing a grip on the techniques, he decided to join a more professional team to expand his horizons and learning prospects.

The thought led him to Lloyd Irvin, a renowned black belt who ran his own BJJ gym in Maryland. Irvin introduced Hall to a team of accomplished competitors, including Brandon Vera and Mike Fowler.

At Irvin’s gym, Hall’s jiu-jitsu prowess grew exponentially. His dedication, keenness to learn, and deep understanding of the use of grappling techniques made him the champion that he is today.

Ryan Hall became the most-feared fighter in national and international competitions. Irvin, who was known for his exaggerated promotional tactics, made Hall the sole focus of his marketing campaigns. The fighter eventually severed ties from the team in January 2009. This setback for Irvin became the talk of the town and was discussed extensively in every grappling forum.

The same year, Hall’s grappling career reached new heights. Though he had earned multiple laurels in top-tier jiu-jitsu competitions before, the most profound success came in the form of a bronze medal at the ADCC World Championship.

After Irvin’s gym, Hall joined the Brasa Clube de Jiu-Jitsu. The association introduced Hall to a team of legendary grapplers.

In 2010, Hall received the black belt from his coach Felipe Costa, who himself was a black belt and two-time world champion.

In 2011, a Youtube video went viral in which the dynamic Ryan Hall defended himself against a menacing bully at a pizza parlor. At first, Hall tried to pacify the threatening individual, but when the situation began to get worse, Hall confronted and overpowered his unreasonable opponent with a single leg takedown and a simple mount position.

He then applied a chokehold to the man, which was cut short because the police arrived at the scene. Hall’s reaction to the incident became a source of delight and satisfaction for the oppressed people around the world. The incident made Hall a hero and an overnight social media sensation.

Ryan Hall is expected to make an appearance at the 2022 ADCC World Championship. He is invited to compete in the 66 kg division. A tough bracket to ace, Hall’s fans are anticipating the tournament with bated breaths.

In 2012, Hall enrolled at the Tristar Gym Mixed Martial Arts training program in Montreal, Canada. On November 30, 2012, Hall represented his new team at the SLAMM-1 held in Canada. He won his first fight by knockout (TKO punches) and continued competing before signing a contract with a more lucrative organization for MMA fights.

In August 2013, Hall fought on the Challenge MMA 2 card at the Montreal, Quebec event. He subdued an intimidating opponent, Maged Hammo, to win the challenge.

In February 2014, he marched to beat Leo Perez via knockout (TKO punches) at Fight Lab 35 in Charlotte, North Carolina. In May 2014, he subdued Ryan Hogans via heel hook at the United Combat League held in Hammond, Indiana.

In August 2015, Hall represented Team USA on the 22nd season of the Ultimate Fighter reality show. In the opening elimination round, Hall quickly submitted Johnny Nunez and won the fight via heel hook.

He then fought against Sweden’s Frantz Slioa in the first preliminary fight of the event. The match ended in another heel hook win for Ryan Hall. This win was Hall’s ticket to the quarterfinals. He lost the quarterfinals to Saul Rogers by decision.

After the major upset, Hall was not scheduled to fight in the finals, but fate interfered in his favor. Rogers couldn’t fight in the Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale because of a visa problem. This hindrance for Rogers became an opportunity for Hall. In 2015, Ryan Hall replaced Saul Rogers to fight Artem Lobov in the lightweight final at The Ultimate Fighter Finale 22 held in Las Vegas.

Hall controlled his opponent and the fight for a long fifteen minutes with his radical strategy, impressive takedowns, and vehement submission attacks. In the first round, Hall rolled early and attempted a takedown on Lobov, who escaped. Hall then attacked his back to secure a rear-naked choke. He secured a triangle, landed well-timed punches, and locked another choke. In this way, Hall dominated the first round.

In the second round, Hall missed a takedown, but successfully pulled Lobov into his guard. He proceeded to try a leg lock, but Lobov escaped. In the last two minutes, Hall pulled Lobov into another guard and went in for an unsuccessful heel hook. On the other hand, Lobov got on top but couldn’t fight offensively.

In the final round, Hall landed a takedown and then went in for a heel hook. Lobov tried to maintain his standing position, but Hall moved into a guard and pulled his opponent down to the mat. Lobov resisted another leg lock attack and tried to return to his feet. Just then, Hall jumped on his opponent’s back and attempted a rear-naked choke. In the concluding minutes of the final round, both the opponents fell down to the mat with Hall maintaining back control.

Hall won the epic match via unanimous decision. Two judges scored the fight (30-26), and the third judge scored it (30-27) in favor of Hall.

In 2016, Hall was scheduled to fight against Alex White at UFC Fight Night 91. White couldn’t fight due to an undisclosed victory. Hall didn't ask the promotion to find him a replacement and chose to fight on a different date. The fight eventually took place on December 3, 2016, at the Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale. Hall faced Gray Maynard and won the bout via unanimous decision.

In 2018, Hall confronted B.J Penn at UFC 232. He won the fight via his favorite heel hook submission technique and received his first “UFC Performance of the Night'' award.

In 2019, Hall fought against Darren Elkins at UFC Fight Night 155 and won the match via unanimous decision.

Hall is one of the few fighters unable to find fights despite their worldwide MMA ranking. He only fought four fights in over four years since signing the UFC multi-fight contract. For an unknown reason, the promotion has been unable to find him an opponent of similar or higher rankings.

In May 2020, after a long gap, Hall was expected to face Ricardo Lamas at the UFC Fight Night Hermansson vs Weidman. The president of UFC, Dana White, postponed the match on April 9, much to the dismay of Hall’s fans. The fight was rescheduled for August 29, 2020, at the UFC Fight Night, but this time Hall couldn’t fight due to an undisclosed injury.

The next bout for Hall came on March 13, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 187. Hall pulled out again due to a hip flexor injury.

In 2021, he faced Ilia Topuria at UFC 264. Hall returned to the cage in July 2021 at UFC 264. He faced Ilia Topuria and lost the match via knockout. In December 2021, Hall redeemed himself at UFC 269 by defeating Darrick Minner via unanimous decision.

It is expected that Ryan Hall would add to the charm and fame of the ADCC World Championship by returning to the platform in September 2022. The event’s head organizer Mo Jassim has hinted at his comeback.

The two featherweight fighters faced each other for an all-out fight at UFC 269. At the beginning of the match, Hall landed a kick at range and Minner retaliated in kind.

Hall then attempted a takedown, grabbed Minner’s leg, and pulled him down. Minner countered the leg-lock, so Hall grabbed the leg again. Minner escaped Hall’s submission attempt and tossed him down. He then moved in to attack, but Hall quickly rolled over and pulled Minner down. The move was followed by Minner’s escape and Hall’s powerful heel hook. He mounted on top of Minner and ended the first round in that position.

Hall opened the second round with a kick to Minner, who responded with an uppercut that went wide. He tried to drag Hall down but failed. Hall rolled into another takedown. At the bottom position, he was far more dangerous with his guard, powerful blows, and armbar attempts.

However, Minner freed himself from the submission attempt. Being on top, he could easily win. However, Hall prevented that by trapping Minner in an unfinished triangle. At the end of the second round, Hall had absolute control over his opponent.

In the opening minutes of the third round, Hall quickly secured a triangle but lost the grip. Minner didn’t waste the opportunity. He broke Hall’s inside guard and quickly transitioned into the mount. Not ready to give up, Hall trapped Minner’s leg and got into the mount to secure an armtriangle choke. Though Minner couldn’t escape, Hall opted to leave the choke incomplete and prolonged the mount position till the end. With his perplexing strategy, Hall claimed the victory via decision.

In 2018, Ryan Hall won a massive victory against the former UFC Welterweight and Lightweight Champion B.J Penn at UFC 232. The duo met for a quick super fight and tried to outdo each other’s world-class ground game.

Famous for his unpredictable moves, Hall caught his opponent off-guard with a heel hook. Hall ended the fight in the first round at the two minutes and 46-second mark. His striking skills earned him the “UFC Performance of the Night” and the “UFC Submission of the Year” awards.

Blessed with excellent teaching skills, Hall has released several easy-to-follow instructional DVD sets for jiu-jitsu aspirants. The focus of this instructional is Hall’s signature triangle choke that he used to secure many epic victories.

With this development, Hall went to open his own jiu-jitsu school called the 50/50 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Washington, D.C.

• CBJJ Brazilian Nationals

• ADCC World Championship
• ADCC North American Championship
• ADCC Trials
• IBJJF World Championship
• IBJJF World No-Gi Championship
• European Open Championship
• Houston Open
• Boston Open
• Chicago Open
• Miami Open
• Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Championship

• CBJJ Brazilian Nationals
• ADCC World Championship
• ADCC North American Championship
• ADCC Trials
• IBJJF World Championship
• IBJJF World No-Gi Championship
• European Open Championship
• Houston Open
• Boston Open
• Chicago Open
• Miami Open
• Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Championship

Brazilian National Championship
Event	Year	Medal
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu World Championship	2006	1 Gold Medal
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu World Championship	2006	1 Bronze Medal
Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship	2008	1 Gold Medal
European Open Championship	2008	1 Gold Medal
World No-Gi Championship	2008	1 Gold Medal
ADCC North American Championship	2008	1 Gold Medal
World Jiu-Jitsu Championship	2008	1 Gold Medal
World Jiu-Jitsu Championship	2009	1 Bronze Medal
ADCC World Championship	2009	1 Bronze Medal
ADCC West Coast Trials	2009	1 Gold Medal
Miami Open Championship	2010	1 Gold Medal
Chicago Open Championship	2010	1 Silver Medal
Chicago Open Championship	2010	1 Gold Medal
Boston Open Championship	2011	1 Silver Medal
Houston Open Championship	2011	1 Bronze Medal
Houston Open Championship	2011	1 Gold Medal
Houston Open Championship	2012	1 Bronze Medal

One-time winner of the “Ultimate Fighter 22 Lightweight” award at the UFC.

One-time winner of the UFC, “Performance of the Night” award at the UFC 232

Photo Credit: @gettyimages