UFC 249 in Brooklyn adds Uriah Hall vs. Jacare Souza
Uriah Hall fought through a broken toe in the first round to win a unanimous decision over Thiago Santos in a middleweight bout at UFC 175 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on July 5, 2014. Credit: Newsday/Mario Gonzalez
More than 14 years since his professional debut in mixed martial arts, Uriah Hall will experience something next year that he never has before: fighting in the octagon in the city where he grew up.
Hall, who emigrated from Jamaica the country to the Jamaica part of Queens, will face Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in a middleweight bout at UFC 249 in Brooklyn on April 18. The UFC made the booking official on Thursday. It was reported earlier this week by ESPN.
The fight marks a return to middleweight for Souza (26-8, 1 no contest), who lost by split decision in a light heavyweight bout to Jan Blachowicz this past November. Souza, 40, has lost two in a row and four of his past six bouts.
Hall, 35, has won his last two bouts, including a split decision over Antonio Carlos Junior in September and a third-round knockout of Bevon Lewis last December. Before that, Hall (15-9) had lost four of his five bouts from November 2015 to July 2018, including losses to Robert Whittaker, Derek Brunson and Paulo Costa.
This is the second official bout on the UFC 249 card at Barclays Center. Khabib Nurmagomedov is scheduled to defend his lightweight title against Tony Ferguson in the main event.
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
