Every fighter craves the adrenaline rush. From the walkout to being in the thick of the action against an opponent in front of a sold-out crowd, it is a high that a combat sports athlete keeps on chasing fight after fight. But what happens when it all goes away? Uriah Hall “fell into a deep depression” after he retired from the UFC following a 17-year-long storied career in MMA. However, the thrill of fighting has not left Hall as he will be returning to the squared circle against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr for his second boxing match on the undercard of the Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry main event this Saturday. His first boxing fight against Le’Veon Bell, a former NFL running back, turned out in his favor. He secured a majority decision win. However, it remains to be seen how he will fare against Chavez Jr, a former champion, who is also currently battling his own demons.

The 39-year-old fighter has a 17-11 career record in MMA and was regarded as a knockout artist with an impressive 14 KO victories. However, his MMA career doesn’t do justice to the whole story. Join us as we explore Hall’s one crucial grievance with the UFC and the dark turn his life took post-retirement from the UFC.

When did Uriah Hall retire from the UFC?

After suffering two back-to-back losses against Sean Strickland and Andre Muniz, he decided to call it quits in August 2022. It seems age was catching up to him, and the lack of success in the Octagon must have contributed to making the difficult decision.

“It is with great sadness that I will be stepping away from the greatest sport in the world. I’m going to miss the incredible UFC staff that has became like family and the mentors I have met along the way. The UFC has given me the Best opportunity to step completely outside my comfort zone,” the Jamaican middleweight contender wrote on Instagram while breaking the news of his retirement.

Joining the company in 2013, the former UFC fighter was ranked 12th in the middleweight division following his last fight against Muniz at UFC 276. “Although I did not achieve the rank of world champion i’ve acquired some of my greatest achievements from mixed martial arts and that was facing my fears and being a champion in life,” Hall concluded his heartfelt retirement note.

Even if he never became a world champion, he has spectacular KO wins over UFC bigwigs like Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman. However, his real struggle began once he kissed goodbye to the octagon.

Uriah Hall opens up about his mental health struggles post-retirement

Hall was candid about his mental health struggles which led him to some “dark places” in his life. So much so, that he even contemplated taking his own life at one time. In an interview with ESPN, he opened up about his struggles.

“After leaving MMA, I fell into a really big hole. A lot of athletes, when you do something for so long, that’s what you identify as. You’re a football player only or you’re a fighter only. People don’t see that. You walk outside and you’re like, wait, there’s nothing else for me to do? I spent the last 20 years of my life committing myself — my soul — to one attribute. And then all of a sudden it’s gone,” confessed the Jamaican native.

Hall revealed that he was afraid of talking about his mental health issues due to the stigma attached to it. He felt “alone” and “weak” but couldn’t tell his friends about it. He felt so purposeless that he didn’t move from his couch for one entire week.

Eventually, a strong support system helped him get out of his misery. Thereafter, he hit the gym to carve out a new career path in boxing. He made his boxing debut on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva main event in 2022. Safe to say, boxing gave him a new lease of life as he was re-invigorated with a renewed purpose.

Why did Uriah Hall come out of retirement and switch to boxing?

Even though Uriah Hall returned to training following his battle with mental health struggles, he did not want to return to the UFC again. He cited the issue of fighter pay in the promotion, pointing out that many fighters were being paid less than ring girls in the Dana White-headed promotion.

“You don’t have to go too much into details but I know people that are making [$10,000 to show, $10,000 to win], which is ridiculous. Cause you’re going out there and fighting and you’re putting your brain cells on the line and f***ing ring card girls are making $70,000, which is utterly f***ing ridiculous,” Hall stated in one of his interviews post-retirement.

Comparatively, Uriah Hall revealed that he was paid “okay” money for his boxing debut. Although, financially, he was able to cut out a good deal for himself in his former promotion, the plight of many unpaid UFC fighters had awakened a desire in him to build a fighters’ union so that the combat sports specialists have more control over fight purse negotiations.

Nevertheless, as Hall will look to step inside the ring against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on July 20th for his second professional boxing match, who will you be rooting for? Let us know in the comment section below.