TAMPA, Fla. – Uriah Hall has his sights set on the king of the middleweight division.
Speaking to MMA Junkie, Hall said he’d love to fight middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (18-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), in what would be an intriguing stand-up affair between two prolific strikers.
“My goal is to fight Israel Adesanya,” Hall said. “He is my trophy. I don’t give a (expletive) about no belt. He’s the trophy. There’s so many holes that I see. I’m not going to sit here and talk (expletive) about him. He’s great, he’s accomplished a lot, but that fight makes so much sense. It’s like one of those built-up animes: ‘Dragon Ball Z’ vs. ‘Naruto,’ right? So I want that.”
Hall (15-9 MMA, 8-7 UFC) who’s coming off back-to-back wins over Bevon Lewis, and Antonio Carlos Jr. last month at UFC on ESPN+ 16, thinks he has the style to stand and trade with “The Last Stylebender.”
And he thinks that Adesanya’s past opponents have shown him too much respect in the striking department.
“It’s just a feeling – I know I was destined to fight him, it’s going to happen,” Hall said. “In terms of holes – I mean, there are so many. Everyone has holes. I have holes, too. I’m sure he sees them. My job is to not let him get them. But I just know how to fight him. I know how to fight that style. That’s a very creative style and you can’t be one dimensional when you fight a style like that. You can’t go out there and just box and be one dimensional. We see the opponents that go out there and get starstruck or just get out of their element.
“He’s very dynamic. I’m extremely dynamic. And with that two-dynamic creativity, it’s just going to create this explosion and the world doesn’t know. They don’t even know what’s going to happen, so it’s just a matter of time.”
Despite having inconsistencies throughout his UFC career, Hall thinks he’s finally found his groove. He came out of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2013 with a lot of hype and wasn’t quite able to live up to it, but thinks he’s now ready to make a run in the 185-pound division.
“I can’t wait to see their faces when I get that strap because I’m the guy that’s not supposed to,” Hall said. “Coulda, woulda, shoulda – but it’s just a matter of time. It’s inevitable. It’s going to happen. I believe it. I want it. I’m going to have it. But I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do.”
