An animal is most dangerous when it's wounded.
Bryan Battle carries the pain of a loss in his PFL debut, and he plans to take it out on Dalton Rosta. The two middleweight contenders headline PFL Charlotte on Friday at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C. Battle (12-3) is a Charlotte native.
"I'm just excited to have a fight, period, I'm just saying off the rip," Battle told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. "Just to have a fight is a blessing. But to be able to fight in front of my hometown, in front of my family and friends, it's such a rare opportunity. I'm excited about it. I'm happy about it. But keeping everything in perspective, it's still a fight. I'm just locked in on having a good performance before soaking in the moment too much."
Despite his 7-1
promotional record, Battle departed the UFC unceremoniously in mid-2025 after a string of weight misses. Shortly thereafter, he signed with PFL. Battle debuted vs. Johnny Eblen in March but was submitted in 4:10.
Battle wants everyone to remember the circumstances surrounding his last fight in Charlotte. He was coming off a loss (the only loss of his UFC tenure), and knocked out Gabe Green in a mere 14 seconds.
"I feel great mentally," Battle said. "I feel sharp. I feel as good as I've ever felt coming into this one. If you want to cycle back to my last fight in Charlotte, my only loss in the UFC came before that fight. You see how I responded that time. I'm one of those people where taking an L only makes me better. It just makes me sick, and I can't f*cking ... the idea of dealing with that again is just something I don't want to f*cking do. In Charlotte, in California, Vegas, Russia, China, I don't care where this fight was. I'm going to win regardless. It is fun to be able to bounce back in my home town, though, with my people."
Battle is known for not only his fighting abilities, but his pre- and post-fight promos on the microphone. However, his lead-up to the Rosta bout has been a bit different. Battle and Rosta (11-3) have been growing mutual admiration for one another, where much of the pre-fight promotion has been built around goofing around rather than trash talk.
"I'll say one of the biggest blessings of coming up from 'The Ultimate Fighter' was that's something I learned how to deal with on that show," Battle said. "Before that, it was something where it was like, 'OK, everyone I fight, they're trying to take what's mine. I hate them. They're the enemy. I'm going to kill them.' When you're forced to live in the house with people you're going to fight and have fought, it just puts everything in perspective. Beef is real. It is a thing. But at the end of the day, we're all professionals. We all spend our time doing the same thing. It's one of those things where people are a lot different in person than you imagine them being just from seeing them online and stuff. I say all that to say ... we're both professionals. But f*ck Dalton, and he's a b*tch and a p*ssy, so take that as you will."
When he plays it out in his mind, Battle isn't underestimating the task in front of him. However, he only sees one outcome – and that's his hand being raised.
"I think he's a really good fighter, but he's not better than me anywhere," Battle said. "That's what I think. ... When I envision the fight on Friday, I envision an absolutely electric atmosphere. The energy is going to be bouncing off the walls. I feel like Dalton is probably going to come in as the best version of himself. Unfortunately, I'm coming in as the best version of myself. I'm going to apply that 'Butcher' pressure. I'm going to hit him with that 'Butcher' power. It's going to be the 'Butcher' show. One hundred percent, it's going to be an entertaining fight. It's going to be can't-miss. If you miss this, you will regret it. It will end with a KO inside of two."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Bryan Battle expects repeat of UFC home game at PFL Charlotte
