Following his win over Anderson Silva, Dana White was pretty critical of Uriah Hall and his performance. Now the middleweight contender fires back, not caring much for the UFC President’s opinion.
Heading into last weekend’s UFC event, the main event was billed as the retirement fight for Anderson Silva, against Uriah Hall. In the end things would end in a sour way, with Uriah stopping Anderson in the fourth round, by TKO. As impressive as that finish was, Dana White was not particularly blown away by Uriah’s slow start to the fight. Speaking at the post fight press conference, he laid into the TUF runner-up, saying some pretty disparaging remarks.
“(Silva) fought a guy that has absolutely zero output,” White said. “They’re in a five-round main event on ESPN and they threw 11 punches in the f–king second round. You fight any one of these savages, he’ll be in big trouble and he’ll take a lot of punishment. Uriah Hall threw 11 punches in the second round. Uriah Hall’s one of the most gunshy fighters in the UFC.”
View this post on Instagram
Uriah Hall Fires Back At Dana White
It would seem that Uriah Hall is not happy to hear these comments from Dana White. Speaking in a recent interview, Uriah fired back at Dana, saying that he did not care about the negative opinion of the fight. That being said, he also made it clear that he understood where Dana was coming from, he just does not let it get to him.
“Someone’s opinion of you should never become your reality,” Hall said. “There are people out there that are consistently going to want to see me fail, are going to wait to see me fail. That’s their purpose, that’s their job, and that’s fine. I don’t mind being hated man, I don’t mind being disliked. I have the courage to be disliked. There’s 7.8 billion people on this planet. You think everyone’s going to like you? Like, you don’t like even like everybody so why would I give a f–k about someone’s opinion?
“Yeah, (Dana’s) the boss, but he’s entitled to his opinion,” Hall continued. “Maybe it’s from a business standpoint for him to think that I should’ve went out there and produced more to get more of a viewing. Maybe he’s more upset at the fact that he didn’t want Anderson to fight. I couldn’t give a s–t what he has to say or think. He’s not in there with me at that given time. He just pays me to f–k motherf–kers up. He’s entitled to his opinion. Obviously he’s the boss so there’s only so much leverage I have no problem with it. I have nothing bad to say.”
🔊"He's entitled to his opinion. Obviously he's the boss, there's only so much leverage I have. But I have no problem with it."- @UriahHallMMA shares his thoughts on Dana White's #UFCVegas12 post-fight comments about his performance against Anderson Silva👊🕷️@jimmysmithmma pic.twitter.com/DZvxgwWISH
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) November 3, 2020
Feeling Bad For Hurting People
Although you may not agree with his statements, Dana White is correct in that Uriah Hall has shown a tendency to be a tad cautious to pull the trigger on his fights. He went on to explain later in the interview that he has been working to get over his fear of hurting people. Moreover he explained what the Anderson Silva meant to him, saying now he is ready for anybody that the UFC throws at him.
“I’ve been in this sport for a long time,” Hall said. “If the UFC wants to throw someone at me that’s going to get me to where I need to be, bring that s–t on. I felt like the Anderson Silva fight was for me personally. It was a personal battle I had to fight. It wasn’t for the media, it wasn’t for anyone, it was for me. It was someone I idolized and learned a lot from and looked up to and I needed that mental hump to jump over.
“I feel like I’m in a place that I need to be,” Hall continued. “I’m at the best gym in the world, I’m working with some of the best coaches, I’m surrounded by some of the best people. There’s nothing that can stop me. Nothing. The only person that has stopped me my whole career is myself. I’m the type of person, I feel bad beating up my opponents. I feel bad doing it because the humane side of me always stands out more and I felt like why would God bless me with this incredible gift to hurt someone but at the same time I’m afraid to use it.”
🔊"I felt like why would God bless me with this incredible gift to hurt someone, but at the same time I'm afraid to use it?"- @UriahHallMMA gets candid about some of the mental obstacles he's had to overcome & the 'personal battle' of fighting Anderson Silva@jimmysmithmma pic.twitter.com/1StToOCq3u
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) November 3, 2020
What do you think of these comments from Uriah Hall? Who do you want to see him fight next?
