Hall of Shame

Let me start by saying this is not to name/shame anyone specific as the title might suggest. It is mainly to shame, oh I don’t know, THE ENTIRE UFC MEN’S FEATHERWEIGHT TOP FIFTEEN. yes, you read that correctly, today’s target of my vitriol is the entire UFC Men’s FW division. So let us waste no time at all and get right into it.

If you are new to my work, let me start by saying I am extremely biased. People have this idea that in sports coverage, journalists/media members/content creators, should be beholden to a creed that prevents them from showing any bias. I’ve got news for you, I have never and will never subscribe to that philosophy, nor do I consider MMA a sport(which might be the subject of my next post). I believe it is my duty to show my bias. Firstly, because I have a lot of it, and to withhold that would be doing a disservice to myself and to you the reader. Secondly, because MMA is something for which I have a lot of passion, and it is virtually impossible to be both passionate and impartial. So from this day henceforth, I promise to be completely, unequivocally, and 100% biased.

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I can finally get to the subject of this article. Ryan “The Wizard” Hall. Ever since I first saw this guy on season 22 of The Ultimate Fighter(TUF), I have been a massive fan of his work. His jiu-jitsu is nearly second to none in his division, save for maybe Kron Gracie and Brian Ortega, and his personality/interviews are fascinating to me. If you missed that season of TUF, first of all go fix that, but in case you don’t have the time I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes on his backstory. More like the Juice’s Notes because again, I’m biased and only remember the good stuff. While he was in college, he started to pick up jiu-jitsu and fell in love with it. By the time he was a purple belt, he was rolling with elite level black belts and giving them a hard time. Eventually he took a break from college to pursue jiu-jitsu/MMA where he garnered himself a good enough record to get into the TUF house. He won his elimination fight in 43 seconds by iminari rolling into a heel hook. This is something I’ve never seen before, and I was hooked instantly. His second opponent was able to avoid the heel hook for just a little longer, and he won that in 1 minute and 52 seconds. He lost his semi-final bout, but due to his opponent having visa issues, he was called in to replace him in the finals and take on the GOAT Artem Lobov. Obviously, I jest about Artem, but if you didn’t know that I can’t take you seriously. He beat Artem in a 3 round decision to win his UFC contract. Since then, he has had nothing but a hard time getting fights! Unfortunately, in the modern era of Mixed Martial Arts, competitors are too protective of their record, and do not want to fight a guy like Ryan, in which they will probably get embarrassed, and have almost no chance of winning a post fight bonus which they desperately covet due to their employer not paying them enough(also a potential subject for a future post). Ryan is thus far unbeaten in The UFC, which unfortunately isn’t saying much because he hasn’t had the opportunity to showcase his skills that often. He fought Gray Maynard in 2016, in a fight where Ryan slapped him in the face with front leg hook kicks(for which Gray had no answer), and outright refused to engage with him on the ground. To the point where Gray would roll his eyes and look to the ref to stand up the fight. He next fought BJ Penn in 2018, which turned into a throwback to the TUF house and Hall was able to roll to a heel hook in the first round. Something he won’t get his due credit for, because although Penn was considered the greatest lightweight of all time in many people’s eyes, I’m quite confident I could get a win over BJ Penn in this stage of his career, and I’m 240 pounds and get winded running across the street to make a green light. That’s not a joke, that happened. In his next, and most recent outing, Ryan found Darren Elkins in July of 2019, and though Darren is a tough gritty veteran who is known for grinding out wins with his wrestling and overall toughness, he too fell victim to Ryan’s game, and at times employed a similar strategy to Maynard in that he would not engage Ryan on the ground. Since then, Ryan has made it clear he wants to get back in the octagon, but has had nothing but a long list of so-called tough guys turn him down.

Now let’s address the target(s) of my rage, the ranked featherweights with whom Ryan has had an abnormally tough time getting to agree to do their jobs. Ryan is currently ranked number 13 in the division. Though I mentioned that BJ Penn isn’t a particularly notable win, and it’s worth mentioning this fight took place at lightweight, Darren Elkins was a solid win which earned him a spot in the rankings. Now if you’re reading this blog, you likely think the UFC Rankings are worth about as much as a ring you get in a gum-ball machine, and I would agree with you. Many have often speculated the people who are on the panel are not even real people, a conspiracy theory which I am more than inclined to believe. Below him are Sodiq Yusuff and Arnold Allen, two prospects whose careers I am also interested in. Both of these men fought recently, and should be itching to get back in the cage. Now I don’t know if either of these fights have been offered to Ryan, and it would technically be “fighting backwards” but given his situation I’m sure he would have happily accepted if either of these men’s names had been on a bout agreement. Looking ahead to the rest of the division, we have Shane Burgos, Jose Also, Calvin Kattar, Jose Emmett, Jeremy Stephens, Renato Moicano, Frankie Edgar, Yair Rodriguez, Chan Sung Jung, Zabit Magomedsharipov, Brian Ortega, and Max Holloway. Now, Ryan Hall said himself that he is not suggesting he be given a top 5 opponent, but he did say that anyone in the top ten who is not already booked has turned him down. This is mind boggling to me. The fact that these men are holding spots in the rankings and turning down fights is nothing short of shameful. As previously stated, the ranking system is a sham as is, but it’s time a rule be implemented which states: If you are uninjured, otherwise healthy, and available, declining a fight will cause you to drop a place in the rankings, if not removed altogether.

As someone who started following Mixed Martial Arts in 2015, I don’t often wax poetic about “the good old days.” Though I am a new fan, I have done my research, binge watched old fights, and read countless articles about the progression of MMA thoughout the years, and have come to conclude we have it a lot better now than we did back in the early 2000s. However, there was a time when, “anyone, anywhere, any time” meant something. Though now we’ve come to learn that allowing fighters a full 8+ weeks to prepare makes for more exciting fights, it does make one miss the days when the name on a contract you have been presented, didn’t matter as much as the date/venue.

Alright, let’s address the elephant in the blog, and no I’m not calling attention to my weight again. Ryan Hall has been called out. Once by Pedro Munhoz bless his heart, and the other by Herbert Burns. Pedro is ranked #7 at bantamweight, and though that would have been an exciting fight between two decorated jiu-jitsu black belts, the UFC wasn’t interested in making a fight across divisions like that which wasn’t for a title, and understandably so. If Pedro had won, would he overtake Ryan’s rank at FW, even though he would undoubtedly go back down to bantamweight? Too many complications. Herbert Burns has just made his debut in the UFC, scoring an impressive victory over a guy who also made his UFC debut that night. Though that fight was incredible to watch, as Ryan put it on Ariel Helwani’s show, one win in the UFC over a fellow debutant does not earn you a spot in the top 15, a sentiment with which I wholeheartedly agree. This could be, and most likely is my bias showing, but I give him a pass for turning this one down, because he has earned bigger fights.

So where does this leave us? We are denied the opportunity to watch someone a specialist like Ryan Hall showcase his skills, and we are left wondering who the toughest guy in the room is. One of the reasons I watch MMA, and one of the reasons many fighters compete, is to see who is the best fighter in the world on the night, and until the top 15 of the featherweight division grow a pair, we will be left with one question: Just how good is Ryan Hall?