Ryan Hall has given an update on the hip flexor injury that forced him to withdraw from his latest fight against Dan Ige at UFC Vegas 21, and set out his ideal return fight when he’s fully recovered, Jeremy Stephens. This was the second consecutive fight that Hall has had to withdraw from after suffering an injury in training, a change of pace from his usual struggles to convince other fighters to accept fights with him in the first place. His last fight before this was scheduled against Ricardo Lamas and either one would’ve been his first fight since a convincing victory over Darren Elkins back in 2019.
Ryan Hall made the comments about his injury and a potential fight against Jeremy Stephens in an interview with BJPenn.com:
“I tore my hip flexor. Almost ripped it off the bone when someone accidentally fell on me in training, I tried to train through it and it made it worse. Went to the doctor, got an MRI, and will be out 8-12 weeks for a full recovery. In physical therapy every day now. I should be good to go by April.”
“I hope to fight [Jeremy] Stephens or someone similar as soon as health allows which should be April or May. I would be very excited to face a challenge like him who is a super tough dude.”
As it stands, Stephens is ranked eighth in the UFC Featherweight division which is one higher than his previously scheduled opponent, Dan Ige. The primary difference however, is that Stephens is currently on a four-fight skid after losing consecutive fights to highly ranked opponents. With that in mind, it seems like a reasonable fight to make as Stephens will likely need to fight below his ranking and Hall, despite the injury, will still be trying to push his way into the division’s top ten.
