Bryan Battle‘s UFC exit came not from a knockout or a nasty submission, but from the scale. ‘The Butcher’ had his contract terminated by Dana White after missing weight for a second fight, this time against Nursulton Ruziboev at UFC 319. The irony? Sean Strickland, a UFC middleweight, had warned him that this might happen. But Battle, confident the move up in weight would fix his problems, ignored the caution and paid the ultimate price.

What made the misstep worse was the context. Moving from welterweight to middleweight was supposed to make his cut easier, but he still missed by four pounds. The optics of blowing weight at 185 instead of 170 made his position much more difficult to defend. Bryan Battle subsequently stated that he misjudged the challenge and ignored the one voice that warned him otherwise.

In a candid interview with FULL SEND MMA, ‘The Butcher’ explained how much Sean Strickland‘s words still haunt him. “I thought it was going to be a lot easier than it was. Sean’s going to cuss me out because Sean Strickland told me, as soon as I was coming up to middleweight, ‘No, it’s still going to be a regular cut.’ I just didn’t listen. I thought it’d be smooth, and I was wrong.”

He also reflected on his own responsibility, refusing to hide behind excuses. Battle confessed that there was a lot going on in his life at the time, and he allowed it to affect him more than it should have. “What happened, happened,” he said, admitting that no explanation could undo what had happened.

Looking back, he realized he had taken the weight cut for granted, a lesson that now motivates him to tighten his habits and never do it again. Maybe that is why, just 13 days later, he fought outside of the UFC at DBX 3 in Miami, where he made weight at 186 pounds against Derik de Freitas, showing that his discipline had returned.

It’s a sobering start for the TUF 29 winner, and while Sean Strickland’s warning came too late to save his UFC career, Battle insists the lesson will shape every step of his comeback. But did he really deserve to get cut from the promotion for just missing weight? Does the fighter believe that the move by Dana White was actually justified? Well, this is one question that has been answered by the fighter himself.

Bryan Battle opens up on the UFC’s decision

Bryan Battle was not caught off guard when the axe eventually came down. His bout against Nursulton Ruziboev at UFC 319 was canceled due to another failed weight cut, which was not his first offense. He’d already missed against Jake Matthews in 2023 and again against Randy Brown, this time by four pounds. The UFC had run out of patience, even if it hurt to lose a fighter on a four-fight winning streak.

Battle admits that the move was fair. “I definitely knew it was a possibility,” he said, admitting that while he wished for another shot, the release was on him. There is no bitterness in his words, just the realization that his actions have caught up with him. What mattered now was to prove his ability to turn things around rather than focus on the loss.

That chance comes quickly. Snapped up by Dirty Boxing promotions, Battle makes his return on August 29th in Miami. He is now more concerned with his actions than with words. The goal is simple: make weight, perform in the cage, and prove the professionalism that the UFC did not witness. The long-term hope of returning is alive, but ‘The Butcher’ understands that it begins with one fight, one weigh-in at a time.