'TUF 22' submission ace Ryan Hall: I get mount or the back, these guys are in trouble

Ryan Hall

“The Ultimate Fighter 22” lightweight Ryan Hall put his fellow contestants on notice in the show’s second episode, picking up his second submission win via heel hook.

And that’s just a preview of coming attractions, Hall, a member of Urijah Faber’s team, told MMAjunkie Radio.

“I’ve been around the jiu-jitsu game for a very very long time, and the sort of things that you have do to be successful at each level of the sport are a little bit different,” said Hall (4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who forced Frantz Slioa (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) to submit in the first frame of their quarterfinal meeting. “Early on, I was pretty awful at everything, and it took a long time for the entire thing to come together in jiu-jitsu, much less MMA.

“But the submission aspect of the game is just scratching the surface. It’s just like striking at a high level. At a low level, striking is a knockout sport, because everybody can hit everybody. At a high level, striking is a positioning and ring craft game, because guys are too good to put your hands on them.

“From the grappling side of things, at a high level, jiu-jitsu is a positioning sport. You can’t just snatch people up because they’re doing the right things; they have their limbs in the right position. When it comes to the grappling side of things, I’m able to get to the leglock side of things a fair bit, but I feel much more dangerous elsewhere, and if I get the mount or the back against these guys, I think they’re going to be feeling something they’ve never quite experienced in that way before.”

In other words, the decorated submission grappler said it’s going to take a lot more than circling away to keep him from tapping the rest of his opposition. Conor McGregor, Slioa’s coach, advised his fighter to evade Hall in hopes of avoiding the kind of tie-up that led to a grappling exchange. Hall, however, simply forced the issue with a dive into leglock position that set up the tap.

“Obviously, Conor’s a fantastic martial artist and has got a ton of experience,” Hall said. “He’s definitely a little less seasoned as a grappler. That being said, he has the right idea with prevention. I’d rather have you tell me a magical way to not get shot rather than say, ‘Ryan, I’m going to shoot you in the arm, but don’t worry, we have a great, great doctor.’ Prevention is key in a lot of these things. But the tough part about it, though, is that it’s not the first time somebody has tried to stop me from leglocking them. I’m nowhere near perfect, and I can slip up like anyone else, but the idea there’s just a simple, let me just do blank and this person that’s been practicing something for over a decade won’t be able to adjust is a little naive.

“But that’s like I think I have the magic for beating Conor McGregor; When he tries to hit me, I’ll just move my head.”

Hall isn’t anywhere near having to pull that rabbit out of the hat, and there’s still plenty more competition to come on the show. But if his early appearances are any indication, he just cemented his role as the guy to beat.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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