Interview with Neil Hall

Neil Hall is a well established MMA referee and is currently best known for his work on the Cage Warriors promotions. However Neil has been involved in the World of martial arts and MMA for 30 years and as well as judging and refereeing, he has also participated, trained and competed in an assortment of combat sports. MMA Prospects UK spoke with Neil to find out more about him and what it's like to be an MMA referee.

What is your martial arts background?

I have trained in many martial arts and combat sports over the last 30 years starting properly as a teenager. Karate, Thai Boxing, Kickboxing, Boxing, Combat Jujitsu, Goshinkwai, Brazilian Jiujitsu, Judo, Sambo Wrestling and probably more. Of course not all of them in depth but at least enough to get an understanding of the style, although some styles I trained for many years and competed in them. I enjoy all martial arts and think everything has something to offer. Now I mainly train MMA but not as much as I would like to, I am coaching most of the time, either classes or working with my fight team.

Did you ever compete within MMA and how did that go?

Yes I did compete MMA, I enjoyed it although it came a little too late in life for me. I was turning 40 around the time and the lads I was fighting were in their mid-20’s - it wasn’t easy. If I was younger with fewer injuries I would have a proper go! I still feel the urge to compete sometimes, you never know! Lol.

Have you ever judged MMA competitions before, how did you get into that and what does it entail?

I spent 5 years judging before I went into refereeing. I was head judge for Cagewarriors from the beginning of the promotion and also judged on early Cage Rage etc, I still see old clips on satellite channels with me sat cageside judging on many early MMA events! I got involved in Judging through knowing promoters, coaches and fighters at the time, I had a good Martial Arts background and was just approached by them. I had done some refereeing in Sambo Wrestling as I used to compete in Sambo and then went on the refereeing course along with Grant Waterman. I personally think judging is harder than refereeing, just for me personally. Others might not agree but I think if you are giving the position of judging its full respect and if you care about the fighters involved it is a very hard job to do. Of course this is no reflection on refereeing, that is also a very hard thing to do but for me it is where I want to be. There are scoring criteria in place for judging and the 10 point must system is in place but I still see judges who have no idea what that is or even have the slightest idea how to correctly and fairly judge an mma round / bout or apply the criteria to the system. I would like to see more judges courses become available around the UK where potential judges can be made aware of how to work with the scoring system.

I believe you also referee, was that a natural progression leading on from judging and what do you love about it?

I am very well known now for refereeing but I don’t think it has to be a natural progression from judging. Some people can do both but many judges tell me they could never referee. I do love refereeing with a passion, I have refereed literally thousands of fights, it feels like home to me, it is where I am meant to be! I love being involved with the fights in such a personal way and have a deep respect for the fighters and care about them and their wellbeing as well and their future career. Because I have been involved in the sport for so long and have worked with fighters for so long it really does feel natural for me to be in there with them, to look after them and protect them. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else or doing anything else! Having fought MMA myself and as a Coach and gym owner managing my own fight team, I have experience from many angles to draw from. I work now as a professional International MMA Referee more or less every weekend and I have started my MMA Officials Events Service.

How can someone get into refereeing and is it a difficult part of the sport to become involved in?

People should seek out courses for Referees and Judges, personally I think Marc Goddard provides the best course. I have known and worked with Marc for many years and have attended his courses. Marc is very passionate about MMA and the role and responsibility of officials in MMA, as am I. I think all officials should have been on a training course or work closely with an established Referee to learn with them. I have been in the game so long I started way back before there were any MMA courses etc and learned and evolved as a Referee through years of practical experience. Now I do get asked to help train up officials for organisations etc and I also work closely with my own Referees both in my gym and out at events to help them grow and develop into responsible and efficient Referees.

Tell us about your MMA Officials website and why you started it?

MMA Officials came about by demand really. Having become so well known for Refereeing, particularly in the North of England, I was getting double and treble bookings for refereeing. Then promoters started asking if I could bring judges as well so before I knew it really MMA Officials had already begun. I had been working with Trevor Mitchell and Craig Lawrence in the North, both good Referees, we basically covered every event in the North between us. I was getting much of the new work and passing it onto Trevor and Craig and even then demand was still growing so recently I have brought in and trained Dean Weir also as a Referee. While MMA officials is my company, I think of these guys as a Team. We are a Team and are all good friends, I get most of the work and distribute it between us. Of course I have a network of referees and judges throughout the UK, all well respected figures in MMA. I also personally enjoy the privilege of being long term friends with people like Marc Goddard, Leon Roberts and Mark Woodard having worked with them many times over the years all around the UK, and in fact into Europe and more recently the Middle East.

As it stands now MMA Officials is a service where I can source via my network, all officials and services for MMA promotions and help to bring the right people together for the benefit of the promoter or organisation and the fighters. I will only recommend or supply experienced officials which is very good for the promoters, the fighters and in fact for the very sport itself as we can maintain high standards because of this. I am a big fan of what Marc Goddard is trying to achieve within the UK with his message via his courses etc that everyone in UK MMA has a part to play to help improve the sport, safety and standards at fight events. There are certain things in place for the safety and security of fighters which begins with the promoters and should be pushed by officials. This is what MMA Officials is about, providing the best service to the promoter and acting in the best interest of the fighters and the sport as a whole.

You opened Neil Hall's Allegiance MMA last year which I must say is an impressive looking facility, a good size and with plenty of equipment. How successful has it proven so far?

I have run gyms around my area for around 20 years now, the first MMA gym was 11 years back in 2000 and was called “Fighting Chance”. At that time it was the only MMA gym for miles around and soon attracted many of the early MMA guys in the area. Running the gym then was Graham Thomas, Daz Sheard and myself. Between us we had years of striking and grappling skills behind us so we began experimenting with MMA. Over the next few years we did well and our “Fighting Chance” team was well known on the Northern scene and I started my own MMA promotion “Sprawl n Brawl” in 2003.

Fighting Chance went on for several more years before we moved the gym, then we got involved with a new gym, I was asked to run it, so we went with that. Recently though I decided to have the original gym back and that is where we are now, in the very same building it all started but just with a new name, Allegiance MMA!

The gym is doing very well, we have classes in MMA, Striking/Thai, Boxing, BJJ, Submission Grappling and Combat Jujitsu. For juniors we have Kickboxing and Jujitsu. We have 6 Title Belt winners in the gym and all is looking well for the future!

As the head coach, have you developed a fight team and are there any bright prospects for the future?

Yes we have a fight team at Allegiance MMA, mainly MMA but we have people compete in K-1 style events, BJJ and Submission Grappling Tournaments. Some of the longer term fighters are slowing down and we have guys who fight out of 2 camps, such as Jay Furness, but we have a few exciting new fighters coming through onto the scene. Josh Harrop, a very talented fighter, Danny Missin, a fighter who combines heart and skills and Cheryl Flynn, again a very disciplined fighter. I don’t want to give too much away about them but I will say that they are definitely ones to watch over the coming months!

Who in the MMA World has been your biggest inspiration and why?

That’s easy, my students. I don’t even like to call them students, they are my friends and are a family at Allegiance. Of course you always get petty fall outs or arguments in any gym but everyone works together and keeps the bonds they form. The very name of the gym says what I stand for and work for within the gym; Allegiance, to each other, the gym and the Team! They inspire me to keep pushing MMA in the right direction.

What would you like to see for the future of UK MMA and where do you see the development of female divisions/competitions within this?

Well that is two different questions really. First for the future of UK MMA I would like to see a Unified set of rules throughout the UK, why not the “Unified Rules” of MMA as used by the UFC. Then there would be amateur rules below that. Many promoters are now going with NSAC amateur rules, which does make sense. I would also like to see fight officials given more training, supervision and qualification wherever possible. One thing I would very much like to happen is that all promotions only use officials who are experienced and / or qualified or the official is working with an experienced Referee or Judge. The promoters, particularly new promoters, should work more closely with the officials and be willing to be guided within the capacity of the official’s role to ensure smooth running at the events and fighter safety.

I do like to see female fights, we have a good female fighter in my gym, and also I have known Rosi Sexton for many years as a friend. I do see female fights and in fact I refereed Rosi’s last fight. There does seem to be a rise in domestic female MMA fighters which is a good thing. It is hard at the moment for all the fighters to get regular matches as there is a limited amount of fighters per weight bracket. Hopefully in time there will be many more female fighters around in the UK.

What message do you have for people out there that love MMA and would like to get into judging or refereeing, and do you have any great tips for them?

As mentioned before, the best way is to find, courses, seminars etc for judging particularly and refereeing. You can email promoters and ask them directly if you can come and meet the judges there, perhaps sit with them and learn from them. I think there will be many opportunities for new judges and referees over the next few years; the best way forward for them is to get on courses wherever possible.

What do you think about an amateur MMA social networking site where fighters can chat, exchange fighting/health tips and have access to experts to ask them questions?

This would be a good thing, it’s always good to be able to ask opinions and share information. It’s also a good way of networking. I am sure it would be very popular and utilised by many amateur MMA fighters. Communication is always a good thing, good advice can be invaluable and this would be a great platform to achieve this.

MMA Prospects UK would like to thank Neil for taking part in this interview and explaining more about what it's like being a referee and judge within MMA. He has spoken about some important issues and we agree that fight officials need to be qualified to a certain standard to protect the safety of those participating in MMA. We wish Neil all the best for both the work he is doing in MMA Officials and Allegiance MMA.

For more information about MMA, refereeing or judging you can contact Neil via his email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or through one of the above links.