Mickey Gall hasn't appeared inside the UFC Octagon for over two years having gone under the knife for surgery. As it turns out, such a layoff was long overdue.
Gall, who is well known for handing CM Punk a crushing defeat in his MMA debut back in 2016, is set to make his comeback on the early preliminary card of the UFC 302 numbered event this weekend.
The 32-year-old heads to the Prudential Center in Newark off the back of a lengthy recovery. That's after committing to surgery following his knockout loss to Mike Malott at UFC 273 in April 2022.
That result left Gall on a two-fight losing skid and 3-5 across eight fights since extending his then-undefeated record to 4-0 with a victory over Sage Northcutt more than seven years ago.
But while the New Jersey native has struggled with consistency for a long time, he's revealed that the past four years of his career have played out alongside a serious injury.
UFC 302's Gall Fought Through Back Break That Left Him Unable To Sit
During a recent fight week interview with UFC.com, Gall previewed his return to action at UFC 302 and looked back on his layoff, as well as the losing form that came before it.
The once-highly touted prospect revealed that the most recent stage of his career had played out in spite of intense struggles from a broken back. Having finally decided upon surgery and a pause in competition, Gall is back and feeling better than ever.
I'm feeling good," Gall said. "I had back surgery, so I haven't fought in over two years. I've competed for four years with a broken back. Now that that's done, I feel better than I ever have. So I'm excited to show my full potential.
I was so limited before. I was trying to avoid the surgery 'cause I wanted to keep fighting and people were like, 'Surgery, that could be career-ending.' But it got to a point where I couldn't sit down," Gall continued. "It was tough. Camp went great. I'm not limited anymore. I was limited in my rotation and certain movements. Now, I had a great camp... I feel better than I ever have, truly."
Gall will look to show his improved condition on Saturday night by getting the better of Bassil Hafez. Following a narrow loss to Jack Della Maddalena on debut last year, Hafez is looking to get in the winner's circle on MMA's biggest stage for the very first time.
The bout also presents an opportunity for some slight redemption for Gall, as he was defeated by his UFC 302 opponent at a local grappling tournament a decade ago.