Bryan Battle is starting a new chapter in his fighting career. To many in his position, the changes could be a scary proposition, but Battle has remained cool and confident throughout the process.
Just a couple of months ago, Battle was released from the UFC. It was a surprising move given Battle’s 7-1 record in the UFC, and his status as champion of season 29 of The Ultimate Fighter. However, the release wasn’t performance-based. Battle had badly missed weight for his middleweight bout against Nursulton Ruziboev at UFC 329, adding to his growing problems on the scale.
Although the release was not an ideal situation, Battle was not too worried about his future in the sport.
“Nah, man, I wasn’t too concerned,” Battle told MMA Junkie. “I thought about the immediate future, but as far as the long-term future went, I just knew I was still world-class and talent reigns supreme. The cream rises to the top, so no matter how I had to fight my way back up, I would’ve fought my way back up. I guess I’m kind of shameless, but I had no real worry about getting fights. It was just a matter of which fights I was going to get, you know what I mean?”
Soon after his UFC release, Battle signed and debuted with Mike Perry’s Dirty Boxing Championship. He won his first fight by KO at the end of August and is booked to return to the ring on Oct. 30 at DBX 4 in Nashville, Tenn. Battle also signed a deal with the PFL, where he’ll continue his MMA career.
“I didn’t have to think about doing Dirty Boxing, and I didn’t have to think about doing PFL,” Battle explained. “Outside the UFC, they’re the biggest name – at least I know in North America, but I know they’re pretty big international, too. I know they go to France a lot, and I would love to go back and fight in France again. That was fun. It’s a great organization to fight for. Man, it was really a no-brainer. I’m excited to dip my toes into the PFL waters.”
Battle says he’ll compete in PFL’s 2026 middleweight tournament, and not under the PFL Championship Series. He’s excited to get a busy calendar and fight for the 2026 PFL middleweight tournament title, and the $500,000 bonus that comes with getting crowned champion.
“Yeah, I’ll be in the tournament,” Battle said. “Making the weight a lot of times in a short amount of time is just f*cking, yeah. I just want to do it right and not take any chances.”
