Dana White blasts Uriah Hall after last-minute fight withdrawal, hospital trip

If things had gone according to plan, Uriah Hall would have battled the retiring Vitor Belfort in the co-main event of last night’s UFC St. Louis card. Regrettably, Hall was hospitalized as the result of a weight-cut gone awry, and forced out of the fight at the last minute.

Despite the fact that Hall is reported to have endured seizures in the midst of his botched cut, UFC President Dana White still isn’t happy with him.

“The guys at the UFC (Performance Institute) said he’s the, what’s the word – he doesn’t take it serious,” White said at the UFC St. Louis post-fight press conference (h/t MMAJunkie.com). “He doesn’t take his training serious, he doesn’t do what anybody tells him. He does his own thing. A week before the fight, he went to L.A. and was hanging out in L.A. in clubs and stuff. So, not good.”

“He texted me (Sunday night),” White continued. “He’s back in his room. Obviously he’s not good. And if you don’t cut weight the right way and you don’t do what you’re supposed to do, this is what happens.”

White then explained that, if Hall has trouble making the middleweight division’s 186-pound limit, he should simply fight at light heavyweight.

“What I think (Hall) needs to think about is fight at 205,” White said. “Fight at 205 or show up and do what you’re supposed to do. There’s ways to cut weight properly and safely. You need to start doing that. That’s why we are encouraging everybody to come to the UFC Performance Institute. That’s why all the guys down there do what they’re supposed to do and do it the right way, cut weight safely. The guys who don’t listen, this is what happens. And much like Kelvin Gastelum and the Johny Hendricks and the other people out there – if you can’t make that weight, then fight at the higher weight division.”

What do you think of Dana White’s comments on Uriah Hall?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/15/2018.