Ryan Hall (born February 22, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist and instructor of Brazilian jiu-jitsu who competed in the featherweight division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

(UFC). He is known for a number of competitive achievements, including Mundial and ADCC victories and dozens of Grapplers Quest championships. He is the winner of ''

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

'' Season 22 competition.

Early life and education

Hall was born on February 22, 1985, in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. Hall attended

Manhattan College Manhattan University (previously Manhattan College) is a private, Catholic university in New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers (Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools) as an academy fo ...

The Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City bo ...

, where he studied

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Hall made his mixed martial arts debut in 2006 against Eddie Fyvie at Reality Fighting 12: Return To Boardwalk Hall, where he lost the bout via unanimous decision. In 2012, Hall trained mixed martial arts at

Tristar Gym The Tristar Gym is a mixed martial arts training centre located in Le Triangle Borough in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Instructors at the gym include Firas Zahabi, Conrad Pla and Georges St-Pierre. Tristar Gym is one of the top professional MMA tr ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. He returned to the cage after years and represented his new team for the first time in the cage at SLAMM-1 on November 30, 2012, in Montreal, where he won by TKO in the first round. Hall fought on the Challenge MMA 2 card on August 17, 2013 in Montreal, where he lost to Maged Hammo. Hall defeated Leo Perez via TKO at Fight Lab 35 in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, on February 8, 2014, and submitted Ryan Hogans via first round heel hook at the United Combat League on May 31 in

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. Located along Lake Michigan, it is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the Li ...

''The Ultimate Fighter''

On August 31, 2015, it was announced that Hall would be a contestant on the 22nd season of ''

'' reality show, representing Team USA. In the opening elimination bout, Hall faced fellow American Johnny Nunez. He won the fight via heel hook early in the first round. Hall represented Team USA in the first preliminary fight of the season facing Sweden's Frantz Slioa. He once again won the fight via heel hook in the first round. He advanced to the quarter finals, where he lost to Saul Rogers by majority decision. Rogers advanced to the final, but a visa issue prevented him from fighting, instead allowing Hall to fight Artem Lobov in The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale. Hall defeated Lobov by unanimous decision to become the Ultimate Fighter 22 lightweight winner.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Hall was expected to face Alex White on July 13, 2016, at

UFC Fight Night 91 ''UFC Fight Night: McDonald vs. Lineker'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 91'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on July 13, 2016, at Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Ba ...

. However, the bout was scrapped on June 28 as White pulled out due to an undisclosed injury. In turn, Hall elected to fight on a different date rather than have the promotion find him a replacement. Hall next faced

Gray Maynard Bradley Gray Maynard (born May 9, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight and Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Between 2008 and 2011, he competed in a noted rivalry with forme ...

on December 3, 2016, at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Hall faced B.J. Penn on December 29, 2018, at

UFC 232 ''UFC 232: Jones vs. Gustafsson 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on December 29, 2018, at The Forum (Inglewood, California), The Forum in Inglewood, California. Background A UFC Ligh ...

. He won the fight via a heel hook submission in the first round. This win earned him the ''Performance of the Night'' award. Hall faced Darren Elkins on July 13, 2019, at UFC on ESPN+ 13. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Despite being a ranked fighter, Hall has made headlines due to his inability to find a fight, going long stretches between matches (with only four fights in over four years since signing with the UFC). He has been vocal about fighting anyone so long as he has been given preparation, but his management and the UFC has had difficulties finding him similarly or higher ranked opponents. Two weeks later, the UFC official found an opponent for Hall. Hall was scheduled to face Ricardo Lamas on May 2, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Weidman. However, on April 9,

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who is the CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at . Out ...

, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed to a future date The bout was rescheduled on August 29, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 175. However, Hall was pulled from the event due to an undisclosed injury. Hall was scheduled to face Dan Ige on March 13, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 187. However, Hall pulled out of the fight on February 11 due to a hip flexor injury. Hall faced

Ilia Topuria Ilia Topuria ( ka, ილია თოფურია; born January 21, 1997) is a Georgian and Spanish professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he i ...

on July 10, 2021, at UFC 264. He lost the fight via knockout in round one. Hall faced Darrick Minner on December 11, 2021, at

UFC 269 ''UFC 269: Oliveira vs. Poirier'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 11, 2021, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United State ...

. He won the bout via unanimous decision. In a November 2024 interview, Hall stated that he has had 19 surgeries since his last bout including a torn ACL and that he hoped to compete again in 2025.

Grappling career

Hall has earned a number of accolades in professional Jiu-Jitsu competition, the highlight of his career coming in 2009 when he earned a bronze medal at the ADCC world championships. In 2007, Hall fought fellow future-UFC competitor

Nate Diaz Nathan Donald Diaz (born April 16, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist and professional boxer who is currently a free agent. Diaz is most known for his time spent fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought for ov ...

in the final of the US Open at purple belt, losing by submission and taking second place. ADCC head organizer Mo Jassim originally stated he was looking at booking Hall to return to professional grappling at the 2022 ADCC world championship. In March, 2022, Hall was given an official invite to compete in the 66 kg division at the event. He withdrew from the event in June, 2022 after suffering a complete tear to his ACL. Hall was scheduled to challenge Ashley Williams for the

Polaris Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinisation of names, Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an ...

lightweight title in the main event of Polaris 24 on June 3, 2023. Both Hall and Williams withdrew from the event just a week prior.

Personal life

Hall and his wife have a son (born 2018). While a contestant on ''The Ultimate Fighter'', Hall explained that his frequent facial

tic A tic is a sudden and repetitive motor movement or vocalization that is not rhythmic and involves discrete muscle groups. Tics are typically brief and may resemble a normal behavioral characteristic or gesture. Tics can be invisible to the obs ...

s are a result of a mild form of

Tourette's syndrome Tourette syndrome (TS), or simply Tourette's, is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Common tics are blinki ...

Self-defense incident

In 2011, a

viral video Viral videos are video, videos that become popular through viral phenomenon, a viral process of Internet sharing, primarily through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhon ...

surfaced showing Hall using

grappling Grappling is a fighting technique based on throws, trips, sweeps, clinch fighting, ground fighting and submission holds. Grappling contests often involve takedowns and ground control, and may end when a contestant concedes defeat. Shou ...

techniques to defend himself against a larger, aggressive man while dining in a pizza parlor. In the video, Hall demonstrates the use of a

single leg takedown In martial arts and combat sports, a takedown is a technique that involves off-balancing an opponent and bringing them to the ground with the attacker landing on top. The process of quickly advancing on an opponent and attempting a takedown is kno ...

and the

mount Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

position. Later, he applies a

chokehold A chokehold, choke, stranglehold or, in Judo, shime-waza () is a general term for a grappling hold that critically reduces or prevents either air ( choking)''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (1999). Oxford University press. . or blood ( s ...

to the man shortly before police arrive.

Championships and accomplishments

Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Main Achievements: * 2 x IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu World Champion (2007 / 2008 purple) * IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu European Open Champion (2008 purple) * IBJJF Chicago Jiu-Jitsu Open champion (2009 Absolute black belt) * 3rd Place

Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship The Campeonato Brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu (lit. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship), commonly known as ''Brasileiro'', is an annual Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) tournament held in Brazil by the IBJJF. ''Brasileiro'' has been held annually since 199 ...

(2008 purple) * 3rd Place IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu World Championship (2009 brown)

Grappling

Main Achievements: * ADCC US West Coast Trials winner (2009) * 3rd Place

ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship The ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship is an international submission wrestling, submission grappling competition, organised by the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC). ADCC is considered one of the most prestigious No-Gi submission grappling tou ...

(2009)

Mixed martial arts

** The Ultimate Fighter 22 Lightweight Winner **Performance of the Night (One time) . **UFC.com Awards *** 2018: Submission of the Year *

MMA Fighting ''MMA Fighting'' is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). Founded in 2001, the site is notable for its breaking news coverage, podcast series, and ''The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani''. Overview ''MMAFighting.com'' ...

**2018 Submission of the Year vs. B.J. Penn *CombatPress.com **2018 Submission of the Year vs. B.J. Penn

Mixed martial arts record

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Artem Lobov Artem Lobov (; born August 11, 1986) is an Irish-Russian former professional mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle boxer . He previously competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and has most recently co ...

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References

External links

Official personal website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Ryan 1985 births Living people American male mixed martial artists American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Manhattan College alumni Mixed martial artists from Virginia Sportspeople from Arlington County, Virginia Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters