After missing weight for his second straight fight, Bryan Battle knew his UFC release was a very real possibility.
‘The Butcher’ weighed in four pounds over the middleweight limit for his scheduled clash with Nursulton Ruziboev at UFC 319 in Chicago. As a result, the fight was scrapped, and Battle was handed his outright release. Battle admittedly knew that being let go by the MMA juggernaut was possible, especially considering he’d already missed weight for a December 2024 showdown with Randy Brown.
Bryan Battle went up an from 170 to 185 after frequent weight misses at welterweight
And STILL manages to weigh 4lbs over.
Official weight: 190lbs #UFC319 pic.twitter.com/lDZ9jlPTbt
— Kenny Okoye🇳🇬 (@TruthfulUfcFan) August 15, 2025
Still, when the moment came, he couldn’t help but be taken aback by the news.
“It’s kinda hard to say because on one hand, I definitely knew it was a real possibility that I might have really f*cked myself over, but since a couple of days had gone by, I was more like, ‘Alright, I guess we’re okay.’ Then I went to the bathroom and checked my phone. I got a text from my agent letting me know that I was released,” Battle told James Lynch in a MiddleEasy exclusive interview.
“It’s one of those things, even if you kind of anticipate it, it always kind of smacks you in the face a little bit, but with that being said, I did know it was a very real possibility the entire time.”
After missing weight late last year, Battle thought he could mitigate his struggles on the scale by moving up from welterweight to middleweight. Unfortunately, a miscalculation is what ultimately caused him to weigh in at 190 pounds.
“Since I was fighting at 185, I thought the [weight cut] would be slightly quicker—that I’d drop the water faster than I was,” Battle added. “I made a mental note, and two weeks later, I made the adjustments. Not the best way to figure things out, but it’s figured out. We’ll be good from here on out.”
As far as his relationship with the UFC, Battle admittedly doesn’t know where he stands with the promotion. For the time being, he’s just focused on making weight and winning fights wherever he ends up.
“At this stage, it’s just staying active as much as possible,” Battle said when asked about a potential UFC return. “Making weight as much as possible. Winning every fight, and we’ll just go from there. We’ll take it one fight at a time.”
Battle also confirmed that he will continue to compete at 185 pounds, although he left the door open for a return to welterweight in the future.
Bryan Battle Down For More Dirty Boxing After Explosive DBX Debut
Mere days after the UFC released Battle, he had an opportunity to compete under the Dirty Boxing Championship banner—a promotion co-founded by former UFC fighter turned BKFC brawler ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry.
Battle picked up a big win in his squared circle debut, scoring a 56-second knockout of Derik de Freitas at DBX 3 in Miami.
BRYAN BATTLE GETS THE WIN IN THE FIRST FOR HIS DBX DEBUT! 🔥 #DBX3 pic.twitter.com/AoYnVooVBl
— Dirty Boxing Championship (@DirtyBoxing_) August 30, 2025
Asked how things came together with DBX so quickly, Battle revealed that he’s not sure who reached out to whom, but as soon as he heard Dirty Boxing was interested in acquiring his services, ‘The Butcher’ was all in.
“Once things broke with the UFC, I believe they approached us,” Battle said. “I’m not even all the way sure. I just got hit up by my agent, and he was like, ‘Yo, are you trying to fight on Dirty Boxing next Friday?’ and I was like, ‘Let’s f*cking go. Let’s do it.’ I was thinking MMA next, but Dirty Boxing was a really good fit. It was something where as soon as he said it, I was like, ‘That makes sense. That would be an easy transition for me.’ It wasn’t something I was necessarily thinking about, but it made sense.”
While Battle left the door open for more Dirty Boxing fights in his future, the Missouri native is ready for any challenges that come his way.
“We’ll see what happens in 2026, but I don’t know,” Battle continued. “Definitely not done for the year. I would love to do more Dirty Boxing fights, but I don’t want to pigeonhole myself in anywhere necessarily. We’ll see what happens, but I’m really game for anything. I want to stay as active as possible.”
Check out the full exclusive interview below:
