Dana White on Uriah Hall, ‘I was purposely sticking it to him, no doubt about it’

Uriah Hall sent shockwaves around the MMA universe while serving as a contestant on season 17 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Hall landed a brutal spinning wheel-kick on opponent Adam Cella that left the TV audiendce, as well as his fellow contestants, in absolute shock.

Uriah followed that highlight reel knockout up with 2 more viscous KO’s, earning himself a spot in the “TUF 17 Finale” opposite Kelvin Gastelum.

Hall was considered a heavy-favorite over Gastelum heading in to the TUF Finale. Afterall, Hall had just KO’d 3 straight competitors and seemed to have an Anderson Silva like demeanor about himself.

However, during his fight with Gastelum, something seemed a bit off. Hall did not appear to have his usual “Killer Instinct,” and because of that he ended up losing a close split-decision.

Sometimes fighters have off nights, and most fans and media expected that’s just what happened to Hall in his octagon debut.

So, there was still a lot of hype heading in to his second UFC bout, opposite John Howard, at “UFC Fight Night 26” in Boston.

Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse in Uriah’s second fight with the promotion. Hall showed even less aggresion in his fight with Howard then he did in his bout with Gastelum. The result? Another split-decision loss for the “TUF 17” Finalist.

After witnessing the 2 losses first-hand, UFC President Dana White had this to say about Mr. Hall:

“I love Uriah Hall. I have a great relationship with this kid. He’s one of the nicest human beings you can ever meet. He’s not a fighter, man.”

This Saturday, Uriah Hall will meet “TUF Season 1” competitor and fan favorite, Chris Leben, in what is likely a loser goes home macth at UFC 168 in Las Vegas.

According to the UFC President, his harsh words of Hall (following his August loss to Howard) were recieved loud and clear by Uriah, as he told Bloodyelbow during Thursday’s media scrum:

“I got some texts from Uriah saying, ‘I’m glad you said all that stuff about me because it motivated me,’ so we will see on Saturday.”

When asked why it seemed as if he was going out of his way at times to needle Hall in the past, White replied:

“I was purposely sticking it to him, no doubt about it.”

Uriah Hall (7-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) and Chris Leben (22-10 MMA, 12-9 UFC) will meet in the headlining bout of the FOX Sports 1 prelims for UFC 168 this Saturday evening.

Who do you have winning this bout Penn Nation?