Uriah Hall of Jamaica looks on during his bout against Robert Whittaker of New Zealand in their middleweight bout during the UFC 193 event at Etihad Stadium on November 15, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Uriah Hall steps into the UFC Octagon against Anderson Silva on Saturday but he has already won several battles in his life
Uriah Hall is set to be a part of history as he takes on Anderson Silva in his next fight. The 36-year-old might have a record of 15 wins and nine losses but this is set to be a huge fight for the Jamaican-American.
This is set to be the legendary Silva’s retirement fight in the UFC, and that is reason enough to catch the action.
Silva has come a long way in his UFC career and the 45-year-old would like to end it on a winning note. The Brazilian is a former Middleweight Champion and holds the record for the longest reign as a champion.
However, Hall has his own story to tell and the 36-year-old opened up on how he got into MMA. The 36-year-old was speaking to the UFC and claimed he came to America in 1997 and often got bullied:
“I didn’t know much, didn’t know what racism was. I was bullied, didn’t know how to handle that and it was a constant thing.
“I would get into fights and I didn’t even know how to fight.”
Hall then spoke about one major incident which he deemed as a low point.
“There were a bunch of kids on the bus and there was this one bully and when he got on the bus ‘ugly right’? Like I was supposed to agree to this.”
Hall added that he turned the other way because that was what he was taught to do but it didn’t work.
“He beat me up, he literally beat the daylights out of me. He beat me up so bad that another bully had to jump him and tell him to stop.
“I remember getting off the bus, humiliated. Monday came, sucked it up. Some kids were laughing, ‘you got your a** whooped on Friday, I remember that.’
“Took it for another year and then got into high school.”
The UFC star then shared another worrying bit as he was cutting class and not attending school regularly.
His mother asked him why he was missing class with his older brother there too and Hall said he broke down and started crying.
“I hate school, I don’t want to go back to school, I am getting bullied.”
His mother apologised for not knowing and took Hall to a therapist but that wasn’t much help. The therapist said Hall had no confidence and his mother sign the UFC star up for MMA classes.
“I walked in, decided to sign up, the rest was history. That time of my life, that chapter sucked, there were dark times where I contemplated suicide. Martial arts definitely saved my life.”
Hall was still thankful for all the things that happened to him as he got into the UFC in the end. The 15-9 star now keeps the negative aspects away from his career and only concentrates on the positives, and that is the right way to go about things.
Hall already has won some huge battles in his life and this is another one that could be considered his greatest victory.
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