Brilliant If Not Entertaining

Ryan Hall fought Gray Maynard at the TUF 24 Finale on December 3, 2016.  I heard about the bout on the Anik and Florian podcast.  Ray Longo talked about the bout and shared his concerns that Hall completely shut down Maynard but his style may make it difficult for him to get fights.  After watching the bout, I understand what Coach Longo was talking about.

I’ve seldom seen anyone so completely control a fight.  Hall frequently attempted to lure Maynard to the ground but the skilled wrestler wanted no part of a ground fight.  Faced with Maynard’s reluctance to go to the ground, Hall used kicks to keep Maynard off-balance.  Hall dazed Maynard with a back hook kick in the middle of the second round.

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Maynard grew very frustrated and by the third round was charging Hall with the only weapon he tried to use in the fight, an overhand right.  Hall would simply fall to the mat, invert and try to catch Maynard’s leg in one of his leg locks.  Maynard was so frustrated he quickly left the cage after the bout.

As a martial artist, I believe Hall’s performance was brilliant.  Did anyone really expect him to drop his hands and run chin first at Maynard?  Hall came up with a great game plan and executed it nearly flawlessly.

Unfortunately, it is a performance the casual fan didn’t understand or appreciate.  Loud boos were heard from the second round on.  Hall already has a difficult time find fights.  Other featherweights will be hesitant to fight Hall and promoters will be loathe to expose an up-and-coming fighter to such a match.

If you are interested in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you should definitely watch the match.  You will see a master martial artist at work.  Hopefully, his brilliance doesn’t prevent him from getting another fight in the near future.

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