Uriah Hall continues to regroup after missing weight for his bout with Vitor Belfort at UFC Fight Night 124 back in January and being hospitalized for acute kidney failure and a mini seizure.
It was truly a scary moment for Hall.
As Hall gears up for his return to the Octagon opposite undefeated middleweight contender Paulo Costa at UFC 226 on July 7 from Las Vegas, Nevada, he believes that his weight troubles are a thing of the past. After coming to grips with his physical needs, “Prime Time” is ready to turn over a new leaf.
“I’m a lot better now because I understand what was the issue and I’m attacking it,” Hall told MMAjunkie earlier this week in Las Vegas.
“As I get older, I’m forgetting that I’m not young,” Hall continued. “So my body is like, ‘Hey bro, we can’t do the same stuff we do.’ So, sleeping is one of them that I’m starting to do more, because I don’t sleep. Just small, basic things that my body is catching up to. It’s just mainly being disciplined.”
UFC president Dana White blasted Hall for going out and partying the week before his botched weight cut earlier this year. While White caught some heat for his remarks, he may have been right. If Hall can limit his extracurricular habits and give his body what it needs then he could finally cash in on the elite potential he possesses.
It all starts with UFC 226. Hall will have to be at his best, both physically and mentally, to overthrow one of the biggest wrecking balls in the division.
“He’s somewhat talented, but he’s hungry, so that makes me want to train even harder,” Hall said. “First fight didn’t happen for whatever reason, but I’m working on the diet part of it. And the training I switched up to focus on things that I haven’t, really.
“My body is one of the main things I neglected, because youth will leave you. My mindset and my pride was like, I’m fine, but as an athlete, you’ve got to work around that. You can’t just have one dimension to say I’m going to tough through it. You’ve got to have the responsibility to say, all right, there’s certain things that are not working in my favor. What can I do to adjust and move forward?”
Hall is coming off a Performance of the Night knockout finish over middleweight staple Krzysztof Jotko, while Costa stopped former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks via second-round TKO back on November.
UFC 226 will be headlined by a heavyweight superfight between current divisional champion Stipe Miocic and UFC light heavyweight titleholder Daniel Cormier. The main card will also feature a featherweight clash between current champion Max Holloway and undefeated contender Brian Ortega.