Ryan Hall would love nothing more than to book a fight against a top-ranked featherweight contender.
Unfortunately the grappling champion and former Ultimate Fighter winner has faced an arduous road in his attempt to secure an opponent lately.
According to Hall, the list of ranked fighters unwilling to accept a matchup against him continues to get longer, which only further exacerbating his own frustration with the situation.
“We came here to fight the best and have been consistently avoided,” Hall said in a message sent to MMA Fighting.
“I am unbeaten and have won each of my fights in one-sided fashion. The narrative that I have or ever would pull out of a fight is false. I signed and trained to fight two times this year, and both fell out at great expense to myself. I am not some kind of trained monkey or gimmick who is waiting around to do one-offs against whatever grappling-based fighter people happen to be excited about at a given time. I want the best. Period. I believe that my results justify nothing less.”
Hall is currently undefeated in his UFC career with four consecutive victories including wins over former lightweight champion B.J. Penn, Gray Maynard and Darren Elkins. It’s been well over a year since Hall last appeared in the octagon with his most recent fight against Ricardo Lamas scrapped ahead of UFC Vegas 8.
He’s previously spoken about his desire to face ranked opposition as well as the difficulty in receiving those kinds of fights since joining the UFC roster. It appears the same thing is happening now as Hall seeks to book his return to action sooner rather than later.
“These ‘ranked fighters’ are making Sean Shelby’s job impossible,” Hall said. “It’s at a point where the UFC either needs to force the fighters ahead of me to accept or pay me to retire and leave them in peace. Maybe they can take up a collection.”
Right now, Hall is targeting “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung as a potential opponent in hopes that he’ll get the former title contender’s attention. Jung is currently coming off a loss to Brian Ortega in his most recent outing in October.
“Here we go again…again,” Hall wrote on his Instagram account. “Who has the stones to step up to the plate? The Korean Zombie? I know you won’t avoid a meaningful challenge.
“Are we going to do this thing or what?”
As of now, Jung hasn’t answered the call as the 35-year-old featherweight awaits a response in hopes of booking the fight.
According to Hall’s manager, he’s not only itching to compete but he’s ready to stay very active over the next 12 months.
“Ryan is coming after the rankings,” Hall’s manager Nima Safapour said when speaking to MMA Fighting. “Someone either steps up finally or they get called out for running. Their choice but he needs a fight and his goal is to fight three times in 2021. He is focused on getting the title.”