Dennis Hallman: Habitual Line Stepper.

If you have never heard of Dennis Hallman then i'm sure you could be forgiven. He isn't the most well known fighter, not ranking on many top 10 lists, competing for major titles or embarking on any record breaking win streaks. He has been around for a long time however, with a professional career beginning in 1996, and having had a whopper 68 fights, with 51 wins, 14 losses, 2 draws and one no-contest. He also holds the first two wins ever over UFC welterweight hall of famer Matt hughes, with one win taking him 17 seconds, and the other 20, both by submission. The reason that Dennis Hallman has captured my attention lately however, is that he just can't seem to do anything right.

At UFC 133 in August I was watching in a friends house, and we all got a big laugh when a fighter I had never seen before, Dennis "Superman" Hallman, fought in skimpier Y-fronts than most fighter usually wear to weigh ins. It later emerged that he did this due to losing a bet, but at the time it just seemed like he was doing it as a joke, and one that Dana White and the UFC really seemed to miss the punchline on. He lost the bout to his opponent Brian Ebersole, who afterwards received a bonus for having managed to TKO him within the first round. He supposedly exposed himself inadvertantly during the fight, and Dana White was allegedly furious backstage that his staff had allowed a fighter to compete wearing such little clothes.

Fastforward to the weigh ins the day before Saturdays UFC 140 event. Hallman was fighting undefeated prospect John Makdessi at lightweight. Hallman however, missed weight, coming in at 158.5, which is over the limit of 156 pounds. As soon as this happened Dana White came over to Hallman and appeared to chew him out onstage over this, though it was impossible to hear what was said. Hallman also appeared very unapologetic, seemingly shrugging off the extra weight and the 20% pay cut that he would have to take from his fight purse. The fight was changed to a catchweight bout, and Hallman dominated Makdessi and submitted him with a rear-naked choke.

This was a stroke of luck for Hallman, as it really seems like he isn't on Dana White's list of favourite fighters since the Y-fronts incident. At a current run of 3-2 in the UFC, I have no doubt that Hallman would have been cut if he had lost his second fight in a row in the Octagon last night. Job security is a wonderful thing, and if Hallman values it he would do well not to lose any of his next few bouts. It's not often you hear of wardrobe choices being more important than win-loss records for fighters, but it just might be for Hallman, so for his sake he better stick to shorts for the time being.