Brian Battle hasn’t lost a fight in nearly three years, but he remains in an uphill battle when it comes to reputation in the martial arts world.
former ultimate fighter The winner was on his way to breaking into the top 10 in the welterweight rankings, especially after his Performance of the Night KO of local favorite Kevin Giuset at the UFC Paris tournament and his post-fight interview went viral. However, Battle dropped weight before winning a split decision over Randy Brown, and his next bout was booked at middleweight.
Battle lost weight again, so his fight with Nursulton Rujiboev was canceled, and a few days later he was released from his UFC contract. He wasted no time in signing with Dirty Boxing and scoring a dominant knockout victory in his second fight for the promotion scheduled for Thursday, while also signing to join the PFL roster, but Battle knows he still has something to prove after his unceremonious exit from the UFC.
“It’s interesting,” Battle told MMA Fighting. “I’m still the only motherfucker who has to come back without losing a game! That’s great. I’m still the best in the world, so I just keep doing what I do.”
Reflecting on the rocky start to 2025, Battle admits it’s hard to wrap his head around everything that’s happened so far.
Although he intended to enter title contention in the UFC as soon as possible, the 31-year-old veteran must now set new goals for himself.
“It was really wild,” Battle said. “Some things happened out of my control, and a lot of things happened within my control. It was a very humbling experience. If there’s anything I’ve learned now, I don’t take anything for granted. I never take anything for granted.”
“There were ups and downs and really bad things here and there, but it was fun. Of course, I still want to be in the UFC, but they’re going to write a book about this shit. It’s going to be a movie someday. It was really crazy, but it was fun too.”
As for weight-cutting issues, Battle flopped on the scales before his fight cancellation and eventual UFC release, but he reached the middleweight limit less than two weeks later and won by knockout in Dirty Boxing.
Looking back now, Battle knows what went wrong in the UFC and what he had to do to make weight, but he can’t stay too stuck in the past as he prepares for his future now.
“The problem is, I took for granted how easy it was to be a middleweight,” Battle explained. “When I competed in Dirty Boxing, it was harder than in the UFC. I was running so much. As soon as I got the fight, I was just running, running, running. I did the rounds, and then I ran after that, and it was tough. It’s really ridiculous, but literally looking back, with just a couple of small adjustments, I would have made weight for the UFC fight.”
“It’s terrible, but lessons have been learned. At this point, I can’t change what happened in the past. All I can do is learn from it and not make the same mistake again.”
Of course, Battle refuses to wallow in self-pity, knowing he has no one to blame but himself for his loss in the UFC. Instead, he’s just thinking about his next bout in Dirty Boxing and will eventually turn his attention to PFL, where he plans to stake his rights in the near future.
“There’s definitely some frustration, but that’s it,” Battle said. “It’s not productive. I’m ready to move on. I’m ready to learn my lessons and move on to bigger and better things.”
Now fighting at 185 pounds, Battle said he doesn’t think his days at welterweight are over, but that this may be his biggest test going forward.
Battle currently doesn’t have much credibility when it comes to weight loss, and he owns that perception, but he hasn’t given up on the fight.
“I’m going to go out there and show that I can be a pro and do what I have to do,” Battle said. “Just be a good boy and take things one fight at a time. I don’t know if they’ll let me go back to welterweight again, but if I had a choice, yeah, I still have unfinished business. People think I’m crazy for saying that shit, but I don’t care. People have been calling me crazy for a long, long time. I’m going to take it one thing at a time.”
“185 is definitely an option while I stay active and busy. It allows me to make cuts easier and it’s not as taxing on my body, but when I eventually get back to the UFC, I want to go back to welterweight and finish some things.”