Ryan Hall returns to the Octagon at UFC 269 against fellow grappling ace Darrick Minner

UFC featherweight Ryan Hall returns to the Octagon at UFC 269 when he faces off against fellow grappling ace Darrick Minner.

MMAJunkie.com was the first to report that Hall vs. Minner is on tap for UFC 269, which is set to take place on December 11. There is no location or venue set for this event yet, but there have been indications that it will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event of UFC 269 features UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira against Dustin Poirier, while the co-main event features Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena.

Hall (8-2) is coming off of a brutal KO loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 264 in July, his first defeat since making his professional MMA debut back in 2006. Now 36 years old, Hall has been in the UFC since 2015 and has gone 4-1 overall in the Octagon during that span, with wins over the likes of BJ Penn, Gray Maynard, Artem Lobov, and Darren Elkins. However, after beating Elkins in July 2019, Hall did not fight again for two years until the KO defeat to Topuria. It’s good to see that Hall is ready to get back into the cage right away, though.

Minner (26-12) has been in the UFC since 2020 and he’s gone 2-2 overall in that time with wins over Charles Rosa and TJ Laramie with losses to Grant Dawson and to the aforementioned Elkins. Like Hall, Minner is an exceptional grappler and this fight should be quite exciting to watch if it hits the mat and these two are able to get into prolonged grappling exchanges. For both Hall and Minner, they are each coming off of a loss so they need a win to bounce back into the win column and start another winning streak.

Who do you think wins this featherweight bout at UFC 269 between Ryan Hall and Darrick Minner?