Ryan Hall Reveals Timeline for UFC Comeback after 19 Surgeries

UFC Featherweight Ryan Hall details what's kept him out of the Octagon for the last 3 years and when he'll be back.

Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

What ever happened to Ryan Hall?

That's what the MMA community has been dying to know, with The Ultimate Fighter 22 champion out of competition for the last 3 years.

"The Wizard" collected three UFC victories after defeating Artem Lobov to win TUF 22, but that streak was halted when he ran into future UFC Featherweight champion Ilia Topuria in 2021.

The first-round KO loss to Topuria drastically halted Hall's momentum and acted as a turning point, not just for his professional career, but for his health in general.

"The most serious unfortunate health stuff that I have ever experienced in my life," Hall told BJPenn.com's Cole Shelton of his lengthy UFC layoff.

UFC 264: Hall vs. Topuria. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

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Hall's Number Of Surgeries

Hall said he had 19 general anesthesia surgeries since his last fight - a rebound win over Darrick Minner in Dec. 2021 - tearing his ACL the following years, and after many surgeries, the jiu-jitsu specialist wasn't out of the woods just yet.

"Had to fix a plantar plate, got fallen on again, and had to have a tightrope surgery the one that Pat Mahomes and a couple of other people have had," Hall said. "The ACL got infected, had to have a couple of septic arthritis. The tight rope, I was actually allergic to the hardware they put in my somehow, so had to have that re-done. It’s been interesting but on the back end of it.”

When it came to injuries, Hall said he was 'completely bulletproof' for 15 years until his training camp for Topuria, where he tore his hip right before the fight.

“Getting that all fixed as well has been huge,” Hall said of his latest injury, a torn shoulder. “It’s been interesting because more than half of the surgeries I have had are ‘Oops, we screwed that one up, let’s do that again.’ I had six elbow surgeries and five knee surgeries. As a patient, you can’t vet doctors and medical staff."

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"I Never Lost Hope That I'd Be Back"

Six fights across six years and one insanely long road to recovery later, the 39-year-old Hall expects to make his UFC return in early 2025.

"There was a period of time when I was in daily pain, but being on the back side, I never lost hope that I’d be back.”

UFC's Ryan Hall. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

While he may not have had the best striking in his heyday, you don't find many UFC fighters with better jiu-jitsu than Ryan Hall, who's notorious for his heel hooks.

Hall once submitted three opponents back-to-back via heel hook (two of which came on The Ultimate Fighter) and also BJ Penn, becoming the first fighter ever to tap out the UFC legend in 2018.

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