In Hidalgo, Texas on Saturday night, No. 10 middleweight Derek Brunson handed ninth-ranked Uriah Hall his first stoppage loss in his nearly three-and-a-half years with the UFC. It took Brunson less than two minutes to drop Hall with a big left hook and finish him off with lefts before referee Herb Dean stopped the fight.
BOOM! @DerekBrunson flattens Uriah Hall with a monster left hand to get the TKO stoppage. #UFCHidalgo https://t.co/oxDXEsRv8y
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) September 18, 2016
The round opened with Hall closing the distance on Brunson, who tied him up and reversed him against the cage. They grappled on their feet and exchanged there briefly; Brunson landed a good knee to the body, but Hall managed to escape. The reprieve was short-lived. It was soon after that Brunson landed the hook that led to the finish.
Hall charging in on Brunson early, just gave him the clinch and put himself against the cage. #UFCHidalgo
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) September 18, 2016
Hall was visibly displeased with the stoppage, latching onto Dean's leg and throwing a punch at nothing immediately after Dean called the fight.
Hall woke right back up, but he was down and eating shots when that fight got stopped. #UFCHidalgo
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) September 18, 2016
Shaky stoppage, but what the hell was Hall reaching for? Clearly jacked up. #UFCHildalgo
— Hunter Alek Homistek (@HunterAHomistek) September 18, 2016
Hall, who reached immediate notoriety with his highlight-reel knockout of Adam Cella with a spinning hook kick on The Ultimate Fighter, came into this fight following a decision loss to Robert Whittaker.
Prior to that, he got another impressive finish with a knee and punches TKO on Gegard Mousasi and a TKO of Oluwale Bamgbose. He also has wins over Chris Leben and Thiago Santos. Hall has only been finished once before, by Chris Weidman in Ring of Combat back in 2010.
It seems like every time Hall fights, there's some question about whether it's his last chance to prove himself as a contender. With his uneven performances and this decisive loss, reestablishing himself as a legitimate threat in the middleweight division will require multiple, consistent and dominant showings. Hall's record moves to 12-7.
Brunson racked up his fifth consecutive win and fourth straight KO/TKO finish. He has just three losses in his 19-fight career, his last being a third-round TKO at the hands of Yoel Romero in January 2014. It's also his only loss in the UFC.
With his run of dominant fights and finishes, Brunson has earned higher-ranked top-10 opponents in a lead up to a title eliminator; while many of them are already booked, Whittaker or the winner of Romero vs. Weidman are solid potential fights for Brunson.
If the winner of Romero/Weidman is next up for a title shot, the winner of Jacare Souza vs. Luke Rockhold is one of the only other fights to make for him at this point. He now sits firmly in the top 10 with a record of 16-3 and 75 percent of his victories ending in a finish.
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