The past few weeks have been very eventful for former UFC fighter Bryan Battle.
The 30-year-old was set to compete at UFC 319 where he would have looked to continue his five-fight unbeaten streak inside the Octagon.
Unfortunately, for the second consecutive time, Battle missed weight ahead of August 16, even after he made the call to move up a division to middleweight.
Dana White had said in the post-fight press conference that a decision hadn’t been made at that time what this would mean for the rising contender after the matchup was cancelled.
After Battle was surprisingly cut from the roster several days later, it didn’t take him long to find a new home, which has allowed him to address some previous issues.
Bryan Battle responds to video of him partying after missing weight at UFC 319
Bryan Battle received a lot of criticism from fans online after missing weight for his middleweight bout with Nursulton Ruziboev at UFC 319.
The former UFC fighter is now set to be back in action this week after signing with Dirty Boxing, where he will debut later today in Miami, Florida.
While he hopes that he’ll be able to work his way back to the Octagon by correcting previous mistakes, this may take some time.
Battle did successfully make middleweight for his Dirty Boxing bout, but this wasn’t the only issue that fans had.
Another aspect of his actions at UFC 319 that rubbed people the wrong way was a video that was posted online which appeared to show him partying at a club after his matchup was cancelled.
Battle explained in an interview with Full Send MMA that he was incredibly disappointed after missing weight, so he chose to leave his hotel room for a few hours, suggesting that the video wasn’t a fair reflection of what he was feeling.
“Everyone wants you to be depressed the whole time, like don’t worry guys, I definitely took what happened very seriously. I was having an existential crisis in the hotel room. I was definitely down on myself, on my luck.
“Literally, right after that, I left and went back to the hotel. I then had another existential crisis. I literally sat in the corner by myself just like trying to figure out what the hell was happening. I definitely took things seriously. I guess like I won’t do that again either but you live and you learn. You grow from it. Sometimes being a rock star is hard.”
Bryan Battle hopes to put this behind him after his ‘justified’ UFC firing
Bryan Battle said in the same interview with Full Send MMA that he believes the UFC letting him go was “justified” and that he needed this to become better.
At Dirty Boxing 3, the former UFC fighter will look to get back to doing what he does best to try and get his career back on track to some degree.
Battle will be facing MMA fighter Derek Freitas on the card, who has an overall record of 3-6 as a pro.
The card also features several other former UFC fighters, including Jairzinho Rozenstruik, who will compete for the heavyweight title in the main event.