Uriah Hall, UFC middleweight failed to weigh in on Saturday and will not face former UFC champion Vitor Belfort in the co-main event of Fight Night 124 card in St. Louis, Missouri.
Unlike most failed weight cuts, Hall didn’t even make it to the scale, which led many to believe something serious had happened.
It was unknown just what caused the ‘primeTime’ to not show up for weigh-ins, but details soon emerged clarifying a disturbing scene before Hall stepped on the scale.
According to Ariel Helwani, Uriah Hall fainted on his way to the weigh-ins and was then taken to a nearby hospital for further evaluation, but the feeling was that he also suffered a seizure as well:
Was also told by two sources that the belief is Hall suffered a seizure in the midst of it all.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 13, 2018
“Update on Uriah Hall: according to sources, he was on weight and headed to the weigh-ins this AM. That’s when he feinted. Looked scary, I’m told. Taken to the hospital. He’s feeling better and awake. Doctors are doing tests.”
“Was also told by two sources that the belief is Hall suffered a seizure in the midst of it all.”
Hall is coming off a big comeback knockout victory over Krzysztof Jotko at UFC Pittsburgh back in September.
UFC strawweight fighter Paige VanZant, who is also competing this weekend at UFC Fight Night 124, sent out a good wish tweet after witnessing Hall’s scariest situation.
Please send Prayers up for @UriahHallMMA scariest thing I have ever seen. 🙏🏼
— Paige VanZant (@paigevanzant) January 13, 2018
Please send Prayers up for @UriahHallMMA scariest thing I have ever seen.
Vitor Belfort was expected to retire after a matchup with Uriah Hall at St. Louis this weekend, also released a statement via social media, where he wishes Uriah Hall a speedy recovery.
“I dedicated 2 months for this training camp,” Belfort wrote. “Stayed away from my family and who knows me knows how hard this is for me. I spent all necessary to have the best structure to achieve my goal. My team had an intense dedication even during the holidays. I did all my fight week obligations, cut the weight and made the fight weight. Unfortunately my opponent had a problem during his weight cut, I wish him a soon recovery Uriah Hall. Now I just want to go back home and see my family. Thanks for all the support along this training camp.Love you all!!”
Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort had weighed in at 186 pounds prior to Hall’s off-scale scary incident.
The reason for forcing fighters to make weight earlier than before is now being questioned. Khabib Nurmagomedov encountered similar issues in the hours before his weigh-in at UFC 209, where he was expected to face Tony Ferguson.
This is a time for UFC to take a serious action about all the weight cutting disaster, fighters are facing.
