Very few fighters, if any, have exited The Ultimate Fighter with as much hype surrounding them as Uriah “Primetime” Hall.
From his brutal hook kick KO of Adam Cella to him literally breaking Bubba McDaniel’s face, Hall absolutely decimated the competition en route to a finals showdown with Kelvin Gastelum.
For the analysts, the bout with Gastelum was more of an assurance than a prediction. Dana White had already said that Hall was the most dangerous fighter TUF had ever produced and Chael Sonnen confirmed White’s belief by stating that Hall would definitely be a contender for the title.
Then, the would-be contender lost, his hype train tumbling off the tracks in an instant. To make matters worse, less than four months later, Hall lost again to John Howard, a fighter who had been cut by the UFC two years prior.
Fans and journalists were baffled; Uriah was too good for this, something had to be wrong.
In an effort to quell the naysayers, the Kyokushin karate black belt emerged again a few months later, pummeling Chris Leben to the point that Leben himself threw in the towel. And, you know, just for good measure, Hall won back-to-back fights against Thiago Santos and Ron Stallings.
“Primetime” was back and he had brought his illustrious arsenal of kicks and punches with him.
However, like many highly touted fighters before him, Hall failed to keep his winning streak alive, losing via split decision to UFC veteran Rafael Natal this past May.
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