Ryan Hall’s long-awaited return to the Octagon now has a date and opponent attached to it.
As originally reported by BJPenn.com, Ryan Hall’s opponent for his return bout will be #11-ranked featherweight Dan Ige. With Hall ranked #13, the winner of this bout will, in all likelihood, crack into the top 10. Of the seven fights currently announced for this card, this fight makes the third contest that will feature ranked fighters.
Ryan Hall has made a name for himself as one of the best grapplers in the UFC. He particularly has one of the most feared heel hooks in MMA, as demonstrated in his UFC 232 bout against BJ Penn. Once Hall made a fifth-degree jiu-jitsu black belt like BJ Penn submit so smoothly and readily, it put the world on notice about what he is capable of.
Ryan Hall has claimed to have had a very hard time finding opponents after the fight that followed this win over Penn. His most recent bout was a unanimous-decision win over Darren Elkins, which occurred in the summer of 2019. Hall has been waiting to build on his eight-fight winning streak ever since. He will finally have the opportunity to do that come March 13 against Dan Ige.
29-year-old Dan Ige has not failed to make good on his opportunity to join the UFC roster after getting the green light from Dana White on the first season of Dana White’s Contender Series. He has compiled an impressive 6-2 record in the promotion since his 2018 debut and has notable wins over Mirsad Bektic and Edson Barboza. Ige will be looking to bounce back from his last fight, though, which was a loss to Calvin Kattar last July.
With the addition of this featherweight bout, the current lineup for the March 13 Fight Night card includes the following bouts:
Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Ciryl Gane
Dan Ige vs. Ryan Hall
Davey Grant vs. Jonathan Martinez
Matthew Semelsberger vs. Jason Witt
Jinh Yu Frey vs. Gloria de Paula
Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Matheus Nicolau
Who do you think will win this featherweight bout between Ryan Hall and Dan Ige?
