The last time he fought in France, Bryan Battle picked up one of the most impressive wins of his UFC tenure.
This time, he'll be under a different banner, and he'll be tasked with stopping the early hype train of a light heavyweight prospect.
Battle (13-3) will take on unbeaten Cameroonian Boris Atangana (9-0) when the PFL returns to Lyon in France in December. Promotion officials announced the new booking Friday. PFL Lyon takes place Dec. 19 at LDLC Arena and is headlined by a fight between Taylor Lapilus and A.J. McKee.
Atangana trains in Belgium, only a few hundred miles from Lyon, so he likely will feel some measure of fan support. His three wins in the PFL Europe series in 2025 were all stoppages, and his fight at PFL Brussels against UFC
vet Jared Gooden in May took only 65 seconds for the seventh knockout of his career. All his wins are by stoppage, and seven of the nine have been in the first round.
Battle was cast off from the UFC in 2025 after a horrendous weight miss canceled his fight with Nursulton Ruziboev at middleweight. He also missed weight in 2024 for a win over Randy Brown at welterweight, so the miss at middleweight was the UFC's last straw. He signed with the PFL and was submitted by Johnny Eblen in his debut in March. But in August, he picked up a crucial split decision win over the highly regarded Dalton Rosta in the PFL Charlotte main event.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Bryan Battle vs. Boris Atangana set for PFL Lyon clash in December
