UFC veteran Uriah Hall wasn’t planning to move into boxing after his retirement from MMA. However, when a big-money fight against three-time NFL Pro Bowl running back Le’Veon Bell popped up, he couldn’t resist the chance to compete again. Uriah Hall discussed his move into the squared circle at a recent press conference.
“I love mixed martial arts and I love to compete. I’m a competitor. I’m the guy that goes out there for a million times until I win.
Uriah Hall To Make Boxing Debut
My coach called me about this, I was traveling, just getting away and stuff and it peaked my interest just because I’m just very competitive. Give me some of these ‘reasons’ to do it and I’ll do it. They did so I’m here.” Hall discussed his approach to post-retirement competition as “just having fun”.
“I’m just having fun. I’m retired from mixed martial arts but I’m not retired from making money. It’s a great opportunity. I see where it can take me. If there’s another great opportunity after this, yeah, I’ll take it. I have a goal. It’s important to have goals to reach to. You can’t just stumble around. I don’t want to be a journeyman like that. I want to have a purpose for doing it.”
Many former UFC fighters switch to boxing later in their careers, chasing bigger paydays. YouTuber Jake Paul has made a career out of promoting his fights against UFC alumni based on how much he makes them compared to their time in the Octagon. Was that a factor for Uriah Hall?
“Listen, the UFC opened my career and extended my career. I made a great deal and everybody’s contract is different. There’s a lot of things that aren’t fair. I don’t think certain things are fair to athletes and for [Jake Paul] to speak out on that, kudos to him but is anything done yet? Nope. How far can we take it?
You don’t have to go too much into details but I know people that are making [$10,000 to show, $10,000 to win], which is ridiculous. Cause you’re going out there and fighting and you’re putting your brain cells on the line and f****** ring card girls are making $70,000, which is utterly f****** ridiculous. So yeah, there’s some s*** that’s just not going down but compared to this it’s OK.
You know your worth as you get older in your career, I think, especially when you put a lot on the line for it and some people feel like they deserve more. At one point, I felt like I deserved more and I had to fight for that.” Will you be watching Uriah Hall enter the boxing ring? Let us know in the comments.
