Ryan Hall‘s first fight in two years came to a fast and unfortunate end when he faced Ilia Topuria at UFC 264.
Hall started the action with a body kick, then landing a nice spinning back kick to the head of Topuria. He then rolled into open guard, getting to his feet when Topuria wouldn’t engage. Hall then briefly went back to open guard after reaching for one of Topuria’s legs, then attempted another Imanari roll, with Topuria trying to stay out of reach as Hall grabbed for his legs and wrists.
A scramble ensued on the ground, with Hall throwing elbows from the inverted position while Topuria tried unsuccessfully to take his back. The fighters exchanged a few punches, and a right hand from Topuria appeared to knock Hall to the ground, but Hall recovered nicely and rolled into open guard again. Hall remained insistent on getting the fight to the ground, returning to guard even as Topuria briefly got into top side control. More kicks from Hall, then a return to the Imanari roll over and over again. As the clock wound down past the 30-second mark, Hall again went for a spinning back kick to the head. As he went for another one, Topuria knocked him off balance and sent him to the ground. He quickly got past Hall’s legs and rained down punches, and the referee called the fight at 4:47 into the first round.
Ilia Topuria was declared the winner by TKO.
HOW ABOUT THAT ? @TopuriaIlia #UFC264 pic.twitter.com/ZQvUa1nJpo
— UFC (@ufc) July 11, 2021
