Ryan Hall has defeated an idol and it’s a bit of a double-edged sword.
Earlier tonight (Dec. 29), Hall went one-on-one with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Hall of Famer B.J. Penn. The bout opened up the FOX Sports 1 portion of the UFC 232 prelims. Hall earned a first-round submission victory via heel hook.
Ryan Hall Talks Quick Submission Win Over “The Prodigy”
Hall defeated a legend in the sport of mixed martial arts and it can easily be considered the biggest victory of his career. Hall explained to reporters how the win is bittersweet for him:
“Honestly I feel very fortunate for the opportunity to compete against a guy like B.J. A lot of times people are like, ‘oh that guy’s a legend.’ He is an actual legend. He’s someone I’ve learned so much from him trying to pattern myself after. So honestly, it’s a little bittersweet because it’s someone that I respect very much and look up to. I’m very happy to get a good result, even happier not to get beat the f*ck up. But also, having been on the other side it can suck.”
He went on to say that he was unsure if Penn would tap out:
“You never know. Honestly, I didn’t expect him to tap because it’s B.J. He’s rubbery and some people just don’t tap. His knee popped pretty good, I don’t know if it’s torn I’m not sure. But it went crack, crack, pop which when you put a heel hook on with pace a lot of times that can be the result.”
You can peep Hall’s scrum in full below courtesy of MMAFighting:
Where do you think Ryan Hall goes from here?
