UFC 235 couldn’t have gone much more poorly for Mickey Gall. The New Jersey native came into his fight with Diego Sanchez looking to add another notable name to his record. And while he talked a good game during fight week, when it came time to deliver it was Sanchez picking up his first TKO win in more than a decade.
Adding insult to injury, after the fight Sanchez claimed that Gall tried to eye gouge him and bite him, showing off what appeared to be a bite-mark on his chest. Gall hasn’t offered any response to those allegations, but as for the rest of his performance? He took to Instagram with an explanation as to why he faded out of the contest so quickly.
“I gassed hard in there,” Gall wrote in a message on social media. “Had an adrenaline dump. I passed out during the weight cut and my body shut down in the first round. I’m sorry to my family and fans. Send love to @diegonightmaresanchezufc he’s a true legend. This was a nightmare come true for me. I promise I’ll be back soon and better.”
The loss marked the second of Gall’s young career, having suffered a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Randy Brown back in 2017. Gall rose to prominence for his public call-out of CM Punk after winning his pro MMA debut on an episode of Dana White’s Lookin’ for a Fight. The BJJ brown belt made his Octagon debut a few months later, beating journalist-turned-fighter Mike Jackson for the chance to fight Punk — who he squashed at UFC 203. Gall recorded a win over then-budding UFC star (and current ONE Championship talent) Sage Northcutt to build his resume just three months later.
Those wins had provided the 27-year-old with a reasonably short path to prominence in an organization where young talent often finds itself buried for years. However, after this latest performance, Gall may now find himself working his way off the prelims for the foreseeable future.
