Ryan Hall appeared on the Matt Serra podcast, where he reflected on a long and difficult stretch away from competition, marked by repeated injuries, multiple surgeries, and uncertainty about what remains in his MMA career.
When Serra asked where he had been, Hall was candid about how far he had drifted from full-time training.
“I hadn’t really trained in almost three years. I’m still good, but I hadn’t been sharp, if that makes sense. So I’m working to get back to it,” he said. “I had 23 surgeries in three years. And yeah, that wasn’t great. Some of them were pretty major, and some of them the doctors goofed up and they had to do again.”
He also explained that his motivation to return goes beyond himself, pointing to his young son as a key reason for wanting to compete again.
“I want to come back and do well, but I would also love it for my son,” he said. “He’s only seven, and he spent most of his time watching his dad be a mess, and I want to come back, win, lose, or draw, and show him something a little bit different.”
Despite everything he has been through, Hall believes he still has something left at a high level, even if time and opportunity are uncertain.
“And I know I’ve got enough left for one or two more at a very high level,” he said. “It’s just whether or not we’ll get the opportunity because you never know where life will take you.”
Hall also revisited his loss to Ilia Topuria, describing the physical condition he entered that match in and how badly he needed the result.
“It was a little tough where the timing of the UFC,” he said. “I got dodged for a lot of years and ducked by a lot of the guys in the rankings when I got there, and then I competed against Topuria.”
He detailed just how compromised he was going into the bout.
“I had two surgeries in camp on my ankle and my foot for that one,” he said. “I went in with a torn hip, broke my hand on his forehead, broke my face on his forehead, and on top of that, he’s Ilia Topuria, so he’s a really good athlete. And so that’s a tough one anyway. And that was one I needed to win.”
Hall added that his hip injury ultimately shaped how he fought that night.
Hall also revealed he dealt with serious neck nerve issues during that period, crediting Aljamain Sterling for helping him find proper treatment.
“I was having like really serious neck nerve issues,” he said. “And I managed to send Aljo a message. Even though I was training with and cornering Cory Sandhagen at the time, Aljo took the time to give me recommendations, what to do, how he fixed his neck, talked to the right doctor. Man, what a great dude. I really owe him for that.”
Even after years of setbacks, Hall made it clear he doesn’t see his career as over yet.
