Saturday’s UFC 193 bout between Robert Whittaker and Uriah Hall was a battle of similar fighters with similar backstories.
Hall has been one of the most compelling figures in MMA since thrashing Adam Cella on The Ultimate Fighter. Unfortunately, each of his exciting, emphatic knockout wins has been counterbalanced with boring, lethargic decision losses. A win over Gegard Mousasi at UFC: Japan, however, threw him from the middle of the pack at 185 pounds straight into the top 10.
Whittaker, similarly, was a standout fighter during his run on TUF: The Smashes, knocking out the field and taking the plaque by defeating Brad Scott. After a 2-2 run at 170 pounds, he jumped up to the middleweight division and hasn’t looked back.
The stakes were remarkably high for this fight, with both men riding the strongest wave of momentum in their careers. Unfortunately, while both are legitimate top-10 talents, only one of them would be able to remain in the discussion.
When they came together in the cage, they put on a suspenseful show for the fans in Australia. Each exchange had heat to it, with Hall’s lightning-quick kicks and Whittaker’s heavy right hands flying all over the place. Somehow, some way, in this fight between two devastating strikers, a knockout would not come to pass.
The fight was incredibly close, but the difference would prove to be two grappling exchanges, one in each of the first two rounds. Both broke in favor of Whittaker, and that led to the hometown fighter taking a unanimous decision to the tune of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
The glimpses Uriah Hall shows of high-volume ferocity, still so frustrating. Fair play to Robert Whittaker though. That was a big, big win.
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) November 15, 2015
The result is a crushing disappointment for Hall, who took this fight to gain some momentum after his win over Mousasi, and a major boon for Whittaker. These sorts of high-risk, high-reward moves are part of the MMA game, but it’s sad when you see them blow up in a fighter’s face.
Here are some notes and thoughts about this fight:
- What a difficult loss for Hall. This wasn’t a fight in the same niche as Hall’s fights against John Howard and Rafael Natal. Hall brought it, but things just didn’t break his way.
- Obviously, this further muddles the bottom half of the middleweight top 10. Mousasi, Hall and Whittaker are all mixed in with Michael Bisping, Thales Leites, Derek Brunson and Tim Kennedy. And that’s not even counting fighters outside the UFC! Tough times are ahead for the Bleacher Report MMA rankings panel.
- Whittaker is such a compelling fighter, and this win is so important for him. He could be a legitimate star if he keeps up this pace.
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