Uriah Hall was supposed to fight former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort at UFC Fight Night St. Louis, but the bout was canned after health issues with the weight cut caused Hall to not even make it to the scale.
Eric Nicksick is the coach of Hall at Xtreme Couture and he claims the fighter almost died for the promotion.
“It’s tough, especially when your employer is the first one to bag on you,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie Radio. “I think what really hurt me was, this guy almost died for your organization.”
UFC President Dana White was the most vocal voice against Hall, even claiming the fighter wasn’t taking his training seriously before the fight.
The coach says White’s comments really affected Hall, who thought he was friends with the UFC President.
“Uriah was upset,” he said. “He’s like, ‘I thought me and Dana were friends.’ (I said), ‘Yeah, maybe, but you (expletive) with that dude’s money. So don’t get all upset about it thinking you guys were all chummy. At the end of the day, none of us get paid, (and) it was an eight-week camp. But my guy’s alive.”
White even suggested that Hall move up to the light heavyweight division, which is a weight class that one of the fighter’s coaches suggested he would dominate at.
