Bryan Battle recalls dramatic weight loss before making his MMA debut at heavyweight
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.
Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC 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 Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC 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.