Bryan Battle has moved between weight classes throughout his career.
Last August, he was released from the UFC after missing weight for a middleweight bout, having previously missed the limit at welterweight as well.
A quick return to action with Dirty Boxing gave him a chance to prove that making weight wouldn’t be an ongoing problem.
Battle is now set for his PFL debut this weekend and is fully committed to fighting at 185 pounds, despite having experience in heavier divisions.
After beginning his career at heavyweight, Bryan Battle continued to move down weight classes
Back in 2017, Bryan Battle made his amateur debut as a heavyweight, but it didn’t go well—he was knocked out.
He’s since moved down through multiple divisions, and even for that debut, he’d already shed a significant amount of weight.
Speaking to Bloody Elbow ahead of his return on March 28 against Johnny Eblen, Battle shared just how heavy he was before that first fight.
“I was 240 for that,” he said. “I lost a bunch of weight. Then I worked really hard to get down to 205.”
When asked about why he kept dropping divisions, Battle explained: “I just felt like I could. It got to a place where I felt like alright, I’m losing weight, I’m smaller now. Let me f—— try to make this next weight class and I would be at a weight class, my weight would settle… then it’s like alright, f— it, let’s try dropping down to the next one.”
The missed weights may have ended his UFC run prematurely but inside the Octagon, Battle did find some success at both welterweight and middleweight.
Bryan hasn’t closed the door on returning to 170 pounds one day but told Bloody Elbow he feels confident that staying at middleweight is the right move for now.
“I do think it’s still possible for me to make welterweight,” said Battle. “But right now middleweight is more the move. I feel really great at middleweight and I know I can do really well against middleweights.”
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