'All he's gonna do is try to roll into that position'- When Conor McGregor tried to warn his TUF team about Ryan Hall
Conor McGregor is regarded as one of the best readers of the sport. His skills were put on display when he was featured against Uriah Faber as a coach in The Ulimate Fighter. Conor McGregor observed early on that rival team member Ryan Hall was extremely skilled with the heel hook and would by any means try to get into a suitable position to execute the move.
In a video that surfaced on YouTube, Conor McGregor can be seen warning his team about Ryan Hall's weapon of choice before his own team member, Frantz Slioa, faced Hall in an exhibition bout. Conor told his team during the huddle:
"All he's gonna do is try to roll into that position."
In the video that follows, Ryan Hall can be seen doing a swift imanari roll along with various other attempts to execute the heel hook on Frantz Slioa. In the end, it didn't take long for Ryan Hall as he submitted the Swedish fighter at 1:54 in the opening round.
Ryan Hall went on to win the TUF 22 finale where he beat Conor McGregor's teammate and sparring partner, Artem Lobov, via unanimous decision. Hall made his UFC debut in 2018, against veteran BJ Penn on the preliminary card of UFC 232.
After gaging Penn for a brief while, Ryan Hall once again switched from a swift Imanari roll into a leg lock. The former two-division champion was barely able to put up any resistance before tapping in at 2:47 in round 1.
Ryan Hall and Conor McGregor are scheduled to fight on the same night
It’s been almost two years since Ryan Hall’s last fight, but The Ultimate Fighter 22 winner looks to be finally ready to return to action. As confirmed by MMA Fighting, the featherweight veteran is set to make a return to the octagon at UFC 264 which will also feature the trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.
After a hiatus of almost two years, Ryan Hall will face rising prospect Ilia Topuria on July 10th. Ilia Topuria defeated Youssef Zalal via unanimous decision in his UFC debut last year and went on to deliver a first-round knockout of Damon Jackson in his next outing. Topuria has seven submission finishes to his name and it will be intriguing to watch him test his grappling skills against Ryan Hall.