Last month, Uriah Hall was forced to withdraw from a scheduled bout against Vitor Belfort at UFC Fight Night 124 after he collapsed on route to the weigh-ins. Hall then spent 48 hours in the hospital and he claims that he had suffered a ‘slight heart attack’ and a ‘mini seizure’.
After the initial fallout, however, UFC President Dana White said that Hall wasn’t taking his training serious and that he was out partying in clubs.
Hall has since denied those claims and his coach, Eric Nicksick, who was present during the situation, recently expressed his disappointment in White’s remarks:
“It’s tough, especially when your employer is the first one to bag on you,” Nicksick told MMAjunkie Radio. “I think what really hurt me was, this guy almost died for your organization.”
At the end of the day, Nicksick understands that White likely lost money due to Hall’s withdrawal, but everyone involved did, and the coach is simply content with the fact that his fighter is alive and well:
“Uriah was upset,” he said. “He’s like, ‘I thought me and Dana were friends.’ (I said), ‘Yeah, maybe, but you (expletive) with that dude’s money. So don’t get all upset about it thinking you guys were all chummy.
“At the end of the day, none of us get paid, (and) it was an eight-week camp. But my guy’s alive.”
And that’s the key part here given the fact that Nicksick also said that he wasn’t sure if Hall ‘was going to make it out’:
“Honest to god truth, I didn’t know if we was going to make it out,” Nicksick said. “(I said), ‘Don’t call the doctor – call the paramedics.”
“He did not feel like he even had a heartbeat,” Nicksick said. “His pulse was thready. He was unconscious and unresponsive. And all the while he was trying to make it down that (expletive) elevator to weigh in for (White). And all he kept saying was, ‘I’ve never missed weight. I’ve never missed weight.’
“And then for you to go on and bash your guy without all the facts, without hearing the story, without knowing what happened. Maybe he did (go to Los Angeles), maybe he caught wind of some things. But I was at the (Performance Institute) with him Tuesdays and Thursdays training.”
Should White have reserved his judgement until all of the facts were made known?
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