According to a Feb. 6 report from Yahoo! Sports, UFC star Uriah Hall feared he killed Adam Cella with a brutal spinning back kick during Season 17 of the reality series "The Ultimate Fighter."
"That's my favorite technique," Hall said of the kick. "... It's a little bit of an unorthodox move. If you have good speed and good whip, you can catch someone, and it's really deadly. I love to use that technique, and just from being in the ring with him, I'd seen how he would drop his hand a little bit.
"I had the chance and I capitalized on it and I took it."
Hall's knockout blow was considered by UFC President Dana White one of the top five craziest knockouts he has ever seen in his two decades of professional experience in combat sports.
"I'm just not used to that [attention]," Hall said. "I had to duck some people. I had to go into the bathroom and just wait there. One of my friends came in and said, 'Hey, they all left. You can come out.' Overall, it's been a great experience and I'm loving it, but I still have to get used to this."
Hall has become an instant celebrity from his devastating finishes, as he sent both of his first two opponents to the hospital.
"My time on the show made me a hell of a lot better fighter and it revolves around the one thing I'd been having constant trouble with," Hall said. "The fear of letting go and the fear of emotions getting the best of you. All it took was Chael getting inside my head and teaching me how to handle that."
Hall thanked UFC star Chael Sonnen for helping him become a better fighter.
"He was a great mentor and coach and I thank him for that," Hall said of Sonnen. "As an athlete, you sometimes put unnecessary pressure on yourself. You want to perform so badly for that crowd, or you worry too much about what others think of you. You don't want to lose. That was always my biggest concern. I didn't want to lose. I put too much pressure on myself and it caused me not to perform."
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