It was a fight that went down as a win via TKO, but the manner of the execution deserves a more glamorous description than that.
Just seconds into the second round of a middleweight fight at the Japan Fight night, Uriah Hall launched a crazy jumping spinning kick to flying knee combo to knock out tournament favourite Gegard Mousasi. It looked like Mousasi would cruise this one after easing himself into the first round with a 10-8 lead at the interval.
But within seconds of the restart, everything changed and it was like something out of The Matrix. One second Hall is motionless on his feet. But then he torques mid air and lands a kick that sends Mousasi careering sideways. Hall completes the move with a battery of punches just to finish him off.
It was an impressive execution of skill that rightly sent the commentator into hysterics.
But it wasn't just exclusively about the exemplary technique. After a promising start at The Ultimate Fighter Season 17, Uriah Hall's repertoire of fights was looking brittle. He shipped a beating to Kelvin Gastelum in the season finale and followed that up with another defeat to John Howard and a brace of unconvincing performances thereafter.
And Hall only got the nod to enter the cage against Mousasi after original opponent Roan Carneiro was forced to withdraw due to injury. Even Dana White was ready to write Hall off. We suspect his opinion has been changed.
