By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Uriah Hall came out of The Ultimate Fighter 17 earlier this year with a ton of hype following several violent finishes while in the house. He's thus far entirely failed to live up to that hype, putting in much poorer performances against both Kelvin Gastelum and John Howard to lose his first two fights in the UFC.
Following that most recent defeat, which took place on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 26, UFC President Dana White seemed as frustrated as anyone given the hype he himself placed on Hall.
"I love Uriah Hall," White said after Saturday's post-fight press conference (via MMAJunkie.com). "I have a great relationship with this kid. He's one of the nicest human beings you'll ever meet. He's not a fighter, man."
"He was this killer that everybody was afraid of on 'TUF,'" White continued. "Then he comes in to the big show, where it all really matters and where this is going to make your livelihood and everything else, and he turns into this different person, this super-nice guy.
"He was telling me when I talked to him after 'TUF' like, 'You know, I just really like [Gastelum]. He's a really nice guy.' OK. Well that really nice guy just took every f***ing thing you ever wanted. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?"
It's that change from being in the house to what he's done in the cage that doesn't make sense to White, and he's got no idea yet whether or not Hall's got a future in the UFC.
"If I could take Brad Pickett's brain and heart and put it inside Uriah Hall's body, holy s*** there would be some damage done," White said. "Uriah Hall has all the physical attributes to be amazing. He's got speed. He's got power. He's just unbelievable. He doesn't have what it mentally takes to fight here. That was a high-five competition.
"Listen, you're a nice guy. I get it. We're not here to f***ing high five. We're not here to shake hands. You do all that s*** when the fight's over. You're here to fight... I don't know. I've got to think about this one."