Uriah Hall’s spidey senses are tingling.
Uriah Hall thinks there is something fishy about the state of MMA.
The middleweight fighter dropped by the Pull No Punches podcast with Kajan Johnson and Shakiel Mahjouri for a candid conversation. Hall, 34, shared his thoughts on the PED allegations attached to his former opponent Paulo Costa.
“I was supposed to fight that dude a while back. He pulled a bicep muscle and I was like ‘what?’ Listen, s—t is going on under the radar here. I don’t know why, I have a feeling, but we’re not stupid. We all know what’s really going on here,” Hall said. “I feel like this s—t is being run by some mafia. It feels like that sometimes. The s—t I see some people getting away with, I’m like ‘what the f—k bro?’ When you really think about it, it’s not even about fighting anymore. It’s about entertainment. No one is going out there and being honorable anymore.”
Many would agree Hall is a phenomenally skilled and powerful striker; however, he has oft been criticized for the quality of his mind-power inside the Octagon. That is not a criticism Hall would entirely disagree with. “I will admit I have a problem,” he exclaimed. “Do I have a problem that I’m afraid? Do I have a problem that I don’t want to do certain things because of how I’ll look? What’s the root of the problem? I have to have a one-on-one with myself.”
He is happy to see more sports psychologists and mental coaches enter the sport, but he doesn’t believe it is the number one solution for him.
“I thought I needed it, but I look at it this way. Mental coaches are kinda like making your bed. You have to consistently do it, which is okay, because training your mind is very important. But what if I put all that energy into doing it myself?” he asked. “ I’m not saying I wouldn’t take help, but I’m not going to make it a priority to give you all the power to say ‘I need you.’ All I have to do is literally sit-down and have a one-on-one with myself.”
“When I say alone time, people think, ‘Oh, yeah. I have alone time. I walk my dog.’ That’s not f—king alone time!” he continued. “Alone time is sitting down in a room, close the door, close your eyes and say, ‘Alright Uriah, what’s up?’”… At the end of the day, I know me better than anyone.”
Hall also discussed his video game influences, his plans to implement more grappling his fights and more.