BREAKING: Multiple sources have informed me
Ryan Hall has been forced to withdraw from his fight against Dan
Ige on March 13. The UFC is now looking for a replacement. #UFC
https://t.co/Gfm9ppxcGl— Cole Shelton (@ColeShelton91)
February 11, 2021
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. The
Ultimate Fighting Championship return of Ryan Hall was
on the books for less than a month before it fell through.
BJPenn.com was the first to report the news on Thursday,
stating that Hall (8-1) has been forced out of his featherweight
tilt with Dan Ige (14-3)
due to an injury sustained while training. News of Hall getting his
first fight since 2019 was
announced in January. Per the report, which was later
confirmed by
other outlets, the promotion is currently searching for a
replacement opponent against Ige at
UFC Fight Night 187.
Since his win over Darren
Elkins in July 2019, Hall has been unable to either find an
opponent or remain in a matchup. A 2020 booking with Ricardo
Lamas fell through due to the coronavirus pandemic, and then
Hall suffered an injury when the match was slated for a few months
later. Even though he has only competed nine times as a pro, “The
Wizard” has not suffered a loss in nearly 15 years since his debut.
The submission wizard won the lightweight bracket of Season 22 of
“The Ultimate Fighter,” and on his slow rise through the company,
he has beaten names like Gray
Maynard, B.J. Penn and
Elkins. Although Penn not the champ at the time, Hall was still the
first man to ever submit “The Prodigy.”
Since his signing off of the first season of Dana White’s Contender Series, Ige has been the
far more active fighter of the two. While Hall has competed just
twice since 2018, Ige’s entire eight-fight UFC tenure has
practically taken place in that same span. A lengthy win streak
with close victories over the likes of Edson
Barboza and Mirsad
Bektic came to an end in July 2020, when Calvin
Kattar won a decision in their UFC on ESPN 13 main event. Ige
has not competed since that loss.
UFC Fight Night 187 goes down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, with a
headliner pitting Leon
Edwards against the unbeaten Khamzat
Chimaev. Other noteworthy matches remaining on the card include
a heavyweight rumble between Ben Rothwell
and Philipe
Lins, while Nasrat
Haqparast has
recently stepped in against Don Madge at
lightweight.
