HOUSTON — Uriah Hall drew a high-profile opponent for his next fight but admits he had other names in mind.
Hall (15-9 MMA, 7-7 UFC) will welcome Ronaldo Souza back to middleweight at UFC 249, but he would have preferred some of the bigger names in the division.
“I was surprised to fight ‘Jacare,’ but it’s a great fight,” Hall told reporters, including MMA Junkie, on Thursday. “Again, it’s your classic striker vs. grappler. Apparently the UFC wants me to take out the grapplers. I got no problems with it, but we wanted some other people.
“I wanted Yoel (Romero), I wanted Darren Till, I wanted some big heads, but they were like, ‘Ah, let’s earn your way first.’ And I’m like, let’s play the card and they throw me ‘Jacare,’ and I got nothing bad to say about him. He’s a stud. He’s a great guy.”
Recently making the move to Fortis MMA, Hall has won his last two in a row, including a win over accomplished grappler Antonio Carlos Junior in September.
That was a good test in preparation for Souza’s style.
“If he gets a hold of me, it might be tough. Who knows? But he’s got to get past my arsenal, and my arsenal’s been training,” Hall said. “Like I said, I’m in the best place, I’m in the best gym, working with some high-level athletes, so it’s going to be a rough night for him, but I’m just looking to get past that and move forward.”
