Bryan Battle knew being cut from the UFC roster was a possibility after missing weight ahead of his scheduled UFC 319 middleweight bout with Nursulton Ruziboev — which ultimately led to the fight being cancelled – but it was still, deep down, a surprise.
Battle was recently released from the promotion after back-to-back weight misses, but with one door closing, another one opens. Battle now competes this Friday in his Dirty Boxing debut against Derik de Freitas at DBX 3.
When the news came down to
him about his release, Battle says, while he was hopeful the UFC would give him another chance, it’s on him that it happened.
“So I definitely knew that it was a possibility, you know what I’m saying?,” Battle told MMA Fighting. “I definitely thought it was something that could happen and it was justified. It’s not something that I’m going to bitch and moan about at all, but I’m not going to lie, I did think that they weren’t going to cut me, you know what I’m saying? I didn’t think that that was going to happen, but that’s what happened. That’s a result of my own actions.
“And so now, we’re on to the next thing. I’ve been quiet. There’s been a lot of things I could have said over this whole time. I haven’t been making posts or anything besides collaborating with Dirty Boxing, and other pages on [different] shit, and one of the things I’m most excited about this opportunity is it gives me a chance to let my actions do the talking — show my remorse, show that I’m better with my actions. One of my favorite things one of my coaches used to say was, ‘I hear better with my eyes,’ and so I’m just really looking forward to going out there, making weight, whooping ass, and f*cking just, you know, I don’t got to say it. Y’all can see it. So, that’s what I’m most looking forward to out of all of this.”
As of now, Battle is just trying to pick up the pieces, and making a long fight camp worthwhile – although him throwing fists for money had to be delayed by a couple of weeks.
When asked if the door is open for a possible return to the promotion, the past winner of The Ultimate Fighter believes it very well could be if he can show consistent signs of getting everything together outside of actual competition.
“I think at this stage, it’s really just kind of all on me,” Battle said. “Like, everyone knows I’m f*cking nice with it when it comes to fighting, and so now it’s just time to clean up all the other things and show that I can be a professional, you know what I mean. That’s been one of the big words a lot of people have been throwing around – show that I can be a professional.
“But one thing at a time. ‘The Butcher’ is still a little bit of a commodity. So there’s people asking about me in different places, but I will say the end goal is, just because I feel like I have one in this business, my end goal is to get back to the UFC and f*cking show out. But one thing at a time. I gotta start with making weight this Thursday, winning this fight on Friday, and then I can worry about the next step after that.”
Battle previously missed weight for his split-decision win over Randy Brown at UFC 309, a scheduled welterweight contest. The miss led him back up to the 185-pound division, where he was four pounds over for the Ruziboev fight earlier this month.
“Like, regardless of what everyone says, I did bust my ass and I did like work really hard to get ready for the Nursulton fight,” Battle said. “I thought making weight would be a little bit easier than it was. But I was dialed in, like I was super f*cking sharp. I was ready to f*cking fight. I was ready to f*cking smash him. But, like I said, [I] learned lessons. I looked past the weight cut and was looking at the fight. You can’t look past the weight cut.”
The 30-year-old still has a lot of gas in the tank, and a lot to prove to, not just himself, but the MMA and combat sports community as a whole. Battle says he’s made mistakes, but in this life, having regrets can be a far more dangerous thing.
“I mean, it’s definitely tough, but in life, I don’t think you can regret any decisions you made,” Battle explained. You can learn from them. I think that’s the best thing to do. But to regret? Our decisions, our history, make us who we are, you know what I’m saying? I’m just trying to be the best version of myself.
“So, obviously, I’m not happy with how things went. I would do things differently if I could have gone back, but that’s me now. … And I’m better now. I don’t care what the people in the comments are saying, what people over here are saying, what the people over there are saying. I know me, I’m better now, you know what I’m saying? And I’m going to be better from this. It’s hard to really regret anything. I’ve learned from this, it’s humbling things have been hard. Would I have liked to have fought and would’ve like to have gotten paid? For sure, 100 percent. But everything in life happens for a reason, and I’ve lived my life by that, and I’m not going to stop now.”
Battle faces de Freitas, a 12-fight MMA veteran who very rarely has seen the judges’ scorecards. Ahead of his promotional debut, Battle believes DBX 3 fight week – beginning with making the middleweight limit on Thursday, and capping it off with a spectacular performance on Friday – is the next step towards the long road back to the octagon.
“The last two or so weeks, the last couple of months, the last year has been chaotic, man,” Battle said. “It’s been non-stop. It’s been one thing to the next, and these past couple of weeks have been among the hardest, you know what I’m saying? It’s been very sobering and humbling, you know what I mean? But you can’t keep a good man down. We’re back to work, we’re back climbing, back grinding.
“So I feel very blessed to have this opportunity, and I fully intend on making the most out of it.”
