UFC Belfast recap: Gegard Mousasi gets revenge with TKO over Uriah Hall

Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall met for the second time in the main event of UFC Fight Night 99, which took place from SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Saturday, and Mousasi got revenge.

In their first meeting in September 2015, Hall pulled off a massive upset, finishing Mousasi in devastating fashion in the second round. But things didn’t go “Primetime’s” way in the rematch, however, as Mousasi scored an impressive TKO in the first round.

This time, Mousasi didn’t immediately take the fight to the mat, where he had a major advantage in the first fight. Instead, the top middleweight contender stood with Hall for the first four minutes of the fight. Mousasi and Hall both traded shots — Mousasi with a strong jab and Hall with a few spinning attacks — and the fight was rather even.

But Mousasi eventually took it to the mat. He landed a takedown with a minute left in the opening round and landed vicious ground-and-pound until the referee was forced to step in.

What was the highlight of the fight?

Not a whole lot happened before the finish, so Mousasi’s stoppage is the highlight of the bout. Mousasi showed off experience when easily getting Hall down to the ground, and it was all over from there.

Where do these two go from here?

Mousasi needed a victory on Saturday to cement his position in the UFC middleweight division. The only blemish on his record in the past two years was the loss to the New Yorker, so he needed to avenge that upset loss if he wanted to continue his title aspirations. And he did so, in a big way. Mousasi is right up there with the best of the best at 185 pounds, but is still probably one win away from a title shot.

Hall has now loss three straight, all to top competition — Robert Whittaker, Derek Brunson, and now “The Dreamcatcher.” But since he’s only lost to top fighters, he won’t get released. He’ll definitely be given an easier fight — perhaps an unranked opponent — in his next outing, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get back into the winning column.