This past Saturday at UFC 261, we saw the middleweight rematch between Chris Weidman (15-6) and Uriah Hall (17-9). The two men met for the first time in 2010 with Weidman picking up the TKO victory.
While both men are the same age, their careers appear to be heading in opposite directions. Ever since Chris Weidman lost the UFC title a few years ago, he hasn’t been the same guy. Weidman had been knocked out five times in his last seven fights.
Meanwhile, Hall looked like he was finally living up to his UFC potential. Primetime had won three fights in a row leading up to UFC 261. A decisive win over Weidman would likely have earned Hall a top five opponent in his next fight.
While I thought Hall would pick up the win on Saturday night, I never thought I’d see what I saw. Weidman came forward and pawed his jab to start the fight. The first big strike thrown was a heavy leg kick from Weidman.
Hall perfectly checked the kick and Weidman’s leg snapped. Weidman folded back over it and the fight was called 17 seconds in. Hall became the first person in UFC history to pickup a win without landing a single strike.
What’s next after UFC 261?
Although it doesn’t feel like a win, at the end of the day, UFC 261 was still a win for Uriah Hall. Now, Primetime has won four fights in a row and he finds himself ranked eighth in the middleweight division.
In looking at the middleweight rankings, there is one fight that jumps off the page for me if the UFC can make it happen. That fight would be pairing Uriah Hall against England’s Darren Till (18-3-1).
Till was originally supposed to fight Marvin Vettori earlier this month but a broken collarbone forced him out of the fight. Till is currently ranked sixth in the middleweight division and he’s coming off of a close loss to Robert Whittaker.
I think this would be a fantastic matchup for the UFC to make. Both men have exciting styles and it would be fun to watch these technical strikers go head-to-head. Anyone in the top eight makes sense for Hall, but this is the matchup I want to see next.