Even with USADA, “Primetime” can’t help but suspect shady business going on behind the UFC scenes.
Urijah Hall came into the UFC with a lot of hype, to the point where UFC president Dana White once touted him as the next Anderson Silva during his run on The Ultimate Fighter. That didn’t exactly pan out, and now Hall is a middle of the pack guy ranked #13 in the 185 pound division. That hasn’t stopped him from continuing to be outspoken about the way the MMA game works.
In the aptly named Pull No Punches podcast, Hill discussed the mysterious case of Paulo Costa, whose recent removal from a UFC card has many wondering if PED shenanigans are going on behind the scenes.
“I was supposed to fight that dude a while back,” Hall said. “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. 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.”
With the recent revelation that the T.J. Dillashaw EPO rumors we’ve been hearing for years are true, Hall undoubtedly has a point. There’s an entire shadow industry devoted to high end athletic doping, and it’s guys like him struggling to keep up while clean that are the literal victims. And how much solace does the 2-year USADA ban give to the guys PED users have beaten?
But more often than not, Hall’s biggest enemy has been himself. For all his gifts, he has a hard time pulling the trigger in the cage. He ‘pulled no punches’ on that topic too, although admitted he was still trying to work things out himself rather than keeping a sports psychologist on the payroll.
“I thought I needed it, but I look at it this way,” he said. “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? 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 concluded. “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.”