UFC middleweight Uriah Hall has outlined his strategy as he prepares to go head to head with top contender Yoel Romero next month.
The former Ultimate Fighter finalist has had his fair share of ups and downs in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but with three wins in his last four fights, it appears as if he’s finally starting to live up to the potential that fans knew he had when he first appeared on TUF.
Ahead of his showdown with the “Soldier of God” on August 22, Hall spoke with MMA Fighting and confirmed that he isn’t planning on holding back against the veteran.
“I’m not trying to fight Yoel to survive, I’m trying to fight him to take him out,” Hall said. “I feel like I’m in my prime. I thought I was in my prime at 28, I’m definitely in my prime now. Regardless of what the UFC wants to give or show, I’m ready. I’m ready to show those attributes and a guy like Yoel, you’ve got to go after him. You’ve got to fight him. I just want to go after him. I’m excited to go after him. I’m not going to be reckless or careless because that dude hits like a truck, but I’m trying to get a title shot. My main focus is to get to the champ. I’m not even looking at the belt. Izzy is the trophy. I want to fight his style. That excites me more than a (expletive) belt.”
When his UFC 249 fight against Jacare Souza fell apart a few months back, Hall’s head coach Sayif Saud actually noted that he wanted to see Uriah get the Romero fight.
“I want to see Uriah get a highly-ranked opponent like Yoel Romero. The champ just fought him and let’s see how Uriah does against him,” Saud told BJPENN.com. “That would be great for him if he could have a good performance against Yoel. I want to see him get closer to a title shot because Uriah vs. Israel would be such a great fight. There styles just mesh. Who wouldn’t want to see Uriah vs. Israel? That would be awesome.”
While the idea of him fighting Israel Adesanya would be fun, he’s got a long way to go before getting to that point. A win over Romero would certainly be a big step in that direction.