UFC 193’s Uriah Hall pissed about flying to Australia, and, of course, media

Uriah Hall

MELBOURNE, Australia – UFC middleweight Uriah Hall didn’t have to think much about accepting a fight with Robert Whittaker on less than two months’ notice in Australia at UFC 193.

Now, he’s “pissed” about the inconveniences he’s had to deal with in accepting it, and he’s determined to take it out on his opponent.

“I’ve gotta credit my buddy Ronda (Rousey) over there,” Hall (12-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) on Friday told MMAjunkie, nodding to the women’s bantamweight champ who sat nearby answering media questions for the pay-per-view event. “The best advice she ever gave me was, no one has the right to beat you, and just the fact that it’s your home country, I’m going to beat you for it.”

Whittaker (14-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) isn’t quite a native of Australia, of course, hailing from its neighbor New Zealand. But he is a winner of “TUF Smashes,” which filmed in Australia, and he is certain to be a crowd favorite come Sunday when they meet on the pay-per-view main card of the event at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.

Still, the way Hall sees it, he’s been put out by taking a fight Down Under.

“I’ve gotta get acclimated to this time zone – that alone pissed me off,” he said. “I’ve got to take a 16-hour flight – I’m already mad about that. And this f-cking country charges me for everything. So I’m pissed off enough to get motivated.”

Hall could use the boost after taking on a busy schedule this year, fighting four times thus far to earn a 3-1 record. Professionally, he’s never fought so much, but his results speak for themselves. In his previous fight, he stepped up on short notice to face top middleweight Gegard Mousasi and pulled off a spectacular knockout.

Whittaker enjoys a three-fight win streak and hopes to embellish his resume with Hall’s name after his initially scheduled opponent Michael Bisping withdrew due to injury.

Hall has other plans, of course, after getting past jet lag.

For more on UFC 193, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.