Sport

Meaningful questions only as Uriah Hall prepares for Gegard Mousasi rematch

Uriah Hall at the UFC press conference at the SSE Arena in Belfast. Picture Matt Bohill.
Uriah Hall at the UFC press conference at the SSE Arena in Belfast. Picture Matt Bohill. Uriah Hall at the UFC press conference at the SSE Arena in Belfast. Picture Matt Bohill.

UFC Fight Night: Mousasi v Hall 2 (tonight, Odyssesy Arena, live on UFC.com)

AT Thursday’s press conference Uriah Hall batted away the first three questions posed by a nervous American journalist.

“That’s just basic research stuff,” retorted the Jamaica-born New Yorker (12-7) who headlines tonight’s UFC Fight Night in a rematch with Gegard Mousasi (40-6-2).

“Meaningful questions only,” he added.

The journalist tried again with more success and there’s no doubt that Mousasi will pose ‘meaningful questions only’ for Hall in the octagon tonight. Hall was a surprise second round knockout winner in the first clash and he knows the Dutchman – who has recorded three wins on-the-trot since – will come out blazing.

After a slow start on Thursday he warmed up and explained that he and Mousasi have had a few awkward meetings in the build-up to their second fight.

“We’re on the same floor (in their hotel) and every time I’m walking to the elevator I’m like ‘Oh my God, I keep running into this guy, it’s so awkward!’

“Luckily my coach broke the ice, he likes to break ices. At the end of the day it’s business, we’re getting paid to go out there and beat each other up. We’re going to hug afterwards and all that stuff, but it’s a job and that’s what we’re here to do.”

Hall says he’s enjoying his first visit to Ireland but his favourite fight venue is Japan and little wonder – that’s where he stopped Mousasi in second round of their first meeting with a whirlwind spinning side-kick followed by a right knee to his head and an 11-second punching barrage.

“I’m not the best grappler, I’m not the best wrestler but I will go up against the best guys,” he said.

“I feel confident, I’ve worked on my weaknesses and it’s a matter of whoever goes out there and imposes their will.”

Hall says his speed will cancel out Mousasi’s superior strength and he expects his rival to come at him “full blast”.

“Gegard is effective everywhere,” he said.

“You can’t look at him and say: ‘he’s just good at this, or this…

“He has a great ground game but the best thing about him is that he’s very strong. The first round I was like: ‘Oh my God, this mofo has been wrestling cows or something!’ He’s strong, but I’m fast. I’m twice as fast as him and all I have to do is use my speed and outclass him and that’s the gameplan.

“I expect a war because he’s going to come at me full-blast. He’s got something to prove and I have the opportunity to climb the ranks and hopefully get a shot at the championship.”

Tickets for UFC Fight Night: Mousasi v Hall 2 are on sale now and available via the SSE Arena box office and Ticketmaster.

NEIL Seery, the Dubliner who drove Irish MMA long before the Connor McGregor bandwagon came along, may not get the chance to bow out on home soil afterall after his fight with long-term rival Ian McCall was called off.

McCall has been ruled unfit to fight meaning that Seery may be forced to end his career on a bum note. Seery (16-12) wanted to have his last fight in Ireland and, at 37, he is determined to bow out before father time caught up with him.

“I genuinely want to stay at home more with my family,” he said.

“I’ve done this for 12 years and I’ve put a lot into the game, I’ve helped change MMA in Ireland, so I think it’s just the right time to go.

“Why go when you don’t feel good? I want to go out when I feel good – I walked into the UFC feeling good and I went out and performed. I won some and lost some – it doesn’t matter – and now I’m leaving and I’m feeling good.

“I’ve really enjoyed it and I am going to miss it – make no mistake about it – but you can’t go on doing this to your body forever, you have to call time sometime and this is it. I decided I would pour all I have into this training camp and then just walk away with a smile on my face regardless of the decision.

“I’m here to win, everybody knows that I turn up to fight and I want to go out on a win but I’m happy with what I achieved over the years.”

Seery says that even a UFC spectacular at Croke Park wouldn’t tempt him back for one final war, but he’d certainly be in the crowd if McGregor brings a show to GAA Headquarters.

“I would rather go as a spectator and watch that madness unfold,” he said.

“It would be incredible just to sit there and watch the octagon in the middle of Croke Park.

“I’m there nearly every time Dublin are playing, I’m there enjoying them and being able to watch a battle in the octagon there would be fantastic.

“After this weekend I’ll go back to work next week and it’ll all take off from there. I’ll see what I want to do and it’ll all snowball from there – I’ll go home and enjoy family life which is what it’s all about for me.”

Family life will be a change of pace. When pressed to choose a highlight from his career, he picked out UFC 189 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas when he took on Louis Smolka on the undercard of Conor McGregor v Chad Mendes.

“I remember walking out for the weigh-ins and I’ve never, ever in my life felt as full of energy,” he recalled.

“I’d have fought anybody on that card there and then. The buzz I got from the crowd at the weigh-ins… I was full of adrenalin, I’d have fought anybody.

“I know I went out and lost the next day but that’s one of the fantastic moments that I’ll always remember.”

He added: “I’ve put a lot into this game.

“I’ve worked, I’ve held down a full-time job and I’ve competed on nearly every show in Ireland – I’ve won titles in shows in Ireland and in Europe. I won a Cage Warriors belt and then I got signed by the UFC.

“I kept things going and through my career I didn’t let anything really get in my way and stop me going where I wanted to go.”

Tonight’s bill at the Odyssey Arena

Main card:

Uriah Hall (185) v Gegard Mousasi (184)


Ross Pearson (156) v Steven Ray (155)


Timothy Johnson (264) v Alexander Volkov (249)


Teruto Ishihara (146) v Artem Lobov (144)

Preliminary card:


Magnus Cedenblad (185) v Jack Marshman (184)


Ali Bagautinov (126) v Kyoji Horiguchi (125)


Kevin Lee (155) v Magomed Mustafaev (156)


Amanda Cooper (116) v Anna Elmose (116)


Mark Godbeer (238) v Justin Ledet (240)


Zak Cummings (172.8)+ v Alexander Yakovlev (171)


Milana Dudieva (135) v Marion Reneau (135)


Brett Johns (136) v Kwan Ho Kwak (136)


Abdul Razak Alhassan (170) v Charlie Ward (169)