Ryan Hall Says His Striking Skills Are Not Respected Enough
Ryan Hall may be one the best grapplers in the world, much less in the UFC. However, he is tired of not getting the respect he deserves for his striking.
Hall is fresh off a decision victory over the immensely tough Darren Elkins, at UFC Sacramento. This was Hall’s toughest test to date, even though his previous bout was a win over BJ Penn. Although he is known for his leg locks, and 50/50 guard, Hall dropped Elkins with kicks on more than one occasion.
Following this, Hall thinks it is time people start putting some respect on his name. He spoke after the fight, about how the narrative surrounding his lack of striking needs to change.
“You try to be as tricky as possible to deal with. My striking has really come along. I’ve cleanly out-struck every opponent I’ve fought. I don’t know why the narrative is different. Nobody wants to grapple with me, but we’ll see what happens when that changes.
I feel very fortunate to have learned from some of the very best martial artists in the world in their disciplines, and I think that’s something I believed in for a long time. was one of the better jiu-jitsu guys in the world when I started mixed martial arts. I had nothing else, but I feel like I had at least an appreciation for being decent at one thing and trying to track down world caliber wrestlers, the best strikers. And also sometimes the little off beat esoteric ones that maybe people don’t always necessarily appreciate — maybe it works in its context or doesn’t work over here but maybe helps surrounding skills. You can do some interesting things.”
Hall went on to discuss how his training has grown.
“I feel fortunate to learn from a lot of the best coaches. Firas Zahabi, Kenny Florian, guys with unbelievably deep levels of mixed martial arts experience and then combine it with Stephen Thompson, Ray Thompson, Raymond Daniels, karate style, taekwondo style. Of course I have a great deal to learn but I just try to be different and try to fight in a way that I feel is authentic.”
Well one thing is for sure; Ryan Hall is very authentically different. Love it or hate it, nobody fights like Ryan Hall.
