Uriah Hall explains his controversial 'terrorist' comment from social media

Uriah Hall is sorry but not sorry when it comes to a recent Instagram post in which he labeled MMA fans as “terrorists” due to the harsh criticism directed at Ronda Rousey following her knockout loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193.

Rousey (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) has received widespread backlash following the loss of her women’s bantamweight title to Holm (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) earlier this month. As a close friend of “Rowdy,” Hall felt it was necessary to stand up and defend the ex-champ against the “haters.”

As he wrote:

“It kills me how people true color shines how one woman change the face of this sport inspiring men women and kids to not only reach a dream but change the game @rondarousey is still a legend yes we all fall but some of you guys are no different from a terrorist smfh just remember at the end of the day all you have is words,” Hall wrote in a post that’s since been deleted. “Meanwhile she still has more money than you she’s still love by many and she still one of the best in the world. Go ahead type away mother f-ckers type away.”

While it’s obvious Hall was simply looking to shield Rousey from negative feedback following her first pro loss, his choice of words and “terrorist” comparison couldn’t have really come at a worse time. The UFC middleweight’s post came just days after the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris that left more than a hundred people dead. Hall said he didn’t make the connection when writing the post, and for that he apologizes, he said. But as far as his overall message? He said his point stands.

“If you notice from the post, a lot of people that commentated on it that weren’t haters got what I was saying,” Hall told MMAjunkie. “But the haters, they were like, ‘Hey, you’re trying to say that UFC fans are like terrorists?’ I’m like, ‘I didn’t say UFC fans were terrorists. I said fans are terrorists.’ Certain fans act like it. Think about it: What does a terrorist do? They f-cking kill you. They take your life away. They take away certain things. What does a fan do? They kill your dreams, kill motivation.

“What I realized was it was a very sensitive time to even say a word like that, and I do apologize for that, and of course UFC contacted me like, ‘Hey man, you might want to be a little nice.’ I was nice about it, but at the same time, I don’t want to apologize for being myself. I’m not going to apologize to people for speaking my mind. Ronda has done so much; she’s a great friend of mine.”

Hall said the root of his frustration doesn’t stem solely from the response to Rousey’s loss, but more so the general fan feedback to fighters. Hall said participation in the sport should be the minimum barrier for entry when it comes to criticizing athletes.

“It goes back to fans don’t know stuff like that, they don’t understand it. So all they can do is sit there behind their little keyboard, yeah I’m talking to you, and criticize,” Hall said. “Unless you step into the shoes – and you know there’s no fighters that said something like that, do you see fighters say something like that? It’s cause they know what it’s like. And I was pretty much just defending her. I might have used some words out of context, but I wasn’t saying anything too bad. It was more just the haters. People that are hating are pretty much just misinformed and uneducated about the situation.”

Nevertheless, Hall has made his peace with the comments and any negativity that came along with it. He’s ready to move forward with his own career, which is currently at a down point after he suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Robert Whittaker on the undercard of the Holm-Rousey fight at UFC 193.

The bout marked Hall’s fifth UFC appearance of 2015 and third in a 96-day stretch. He accepted more than one of those fights on short notice and said the quick turnarounds paired with injuries were one of the reasons he was competitive, but ultimately unsuccessful, in the bout.

“I’ve learned from this, and I think that many fights in one year was probably too much,” Hall said. “I didn’t get time to rest, but at the same time, I don’t want to give any excuses. Robert was a freakin’ stud, man. The dude was strong; he had a perfect game plan. He’s good. He’s legit. Props to him he did a great job, and it was his night. I just want to rest, get better and come back.

“I don’t like to complain when I have injuries. I actually got a staph (infection) a week before that fight too, and it messed me up. But again, I went out there anyways and said, ‘Alright, I’m going through all of this, and I can still perform. I’m still getting better.'”

Hall had lofty expectations placed on him following a memorable run on “The Ultimate Fighter 17.” His UFC career hasn’t gone exactly as planned, and he’s lost four of nine fights with the organization.

“Primetime” said he’s not disappointed by his UFC run thus far, though, since each loss is a building block for what he expects to a be a successful 2016.

“Every fight is a learning experience; I’ve learned to be more cautious and train better, to find more rest,” Hall said. “I didn’t give myself enough time to rest. It was camp after camp after camp, and it’s grueling on your body. My mindset is actually a little stronger than my body to say, ‘Keep going.’ But my body said, ‘Dude, I can’t keep up.’ You’ve got to eat well, and you’ve got to be better regimented, have the right system. That’s what I’ve learned is to better myself to perform in the future. I’m only getting better, and I’m still young at this.”

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