“The Butcher” is in a bad spot.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) prospect and The Ultimate Fighter Season 29 winner Bryan Battle was scheduled to compete on this past weekend’s UFC 319 pay-per-view card. Instead, his fight with Nursulton Ruziboev was scrapped after Battle missed weight by four pounds at weigh-ins.
The two fighters later made amends and even agreed to run it back at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi. But despite that tentative plan, there’s still a chance Battle could get the proverbial axe
— and the 30-year-old says he’s at peace with it.
“Regardless, no matter what happens, I know I’m still one of the best on the planet, so I know I’ll be back,” Battle told Ariel Helwani. “If I have to go out, whoop some ass, prove myself, and show that I can still do it and still make weight, then that’s what I’ll go do. I’ll come back and fulfill my potential, but I’m in a place right now where I don’t feel entitled to anything.”
“I would understand [if UFC releases me],” Battle added. “If they’re kind of gracious, I’ll be extremely thankful for that. But this is just a time where I must focus on the day-to-day.”
As for what went wrong, Battle explained that he underestimated the cut. Moving up a weight class, he believed it would be an easier process — but things unraveled quickly.
“I’m getting older, and I think my body just can’t do the things it used to do. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake, a walk in the park,” Battle said. “When you’re cutting weight and things go south — once things start going downhill, it’s hard to recover from it.”
“The Butcher” admitted he only lost two pounds over the course of five hours on Friday morning, despite sweating the entire time.
For now, Battle (7-1) remains on the UFC roster, though his future hangs in the balance.
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