Former winner of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ and current UFC middleweight, Bryan Battle, made some waves on Friday morning when he missed weight by an astonishing 4 lbs over the 186 lb limit.
4 pounds over
#UFC319
Despite Battle changing weight classes for this fight, having last fought at welterweight in December, where he also missed weight by 4 lbs in what was a controversial, split decision win against Randy Brown, he still could not make the weight – even now fighting at a 15 lbs heavier weight class.
Due to Battle once again missing weight – and by such a large amount – the UFC has decided to cancel the fight.
And for what was expected to be one of the more exciting undercard fights, fans are furious that Battle, for what is now the third time in his UFC career, has missed weight.
Batttle also missed weight by 2 lbs over the 171 lb welterweight limit back in May 2023, prior to facing Gabriel Green, whom he knocked out in the first round.
Battle’s Opponent Reacts To Cancelled Fight Over Missed Weight
Nursulton Ruziboev, who has won all four of his UFC fights at middleweight coming into this bout, was a moderate underdog to Battle ahead of this fight. And he was not pleased with Battle’s showing on Friday morning, per his Instagram.
Earlier in the week Battle did an interview saying it was Ruziboev’s fault they weren’t on the main card 😬
“Instead of talking too much, you need to make the weight first.” Ruziboev wrote on social media in response to the fight’s cancellation. “This is a professional sport blondie”.
Ruziboev accompanied his message with an emoji of a pig at the bottom, presumably relating to Battle’s his inability to get down to the established weight limit.
It is unclear at this time whether Ruziboev will receive some form of financial or other renumeration, after having his fight cancelled at the eleventh hour, or whether the UFC will attempt to book him onto one of the upcoming cards in Shanghai, Paris, or San Antonio for UFC Noche.
Why Did The UFC Cancel the Battle-Ruziboev Fight?
The overarching reason for the cancellation is obviously – per the UFC – due to Battle’s weight miss. But fighters have fought on a 4 lb weight differential before. Most notably, Battle himself when he went up against Randy Brown and missed weight be the exact same amount.
And that being at welterweight (170 lbs), the proportionality the miss makes it a bigger size differential, percentage wise, than that of his latest weigh-in now at 190 lbs.
It is quite possible that this comes down to Dana White and the organization being fed up with the Missouri man’s antics, and they did not want to allow him to fight with another big physical advantage in a head-to-head whose winner could well be in line for top-15 shot sooner rather than later.
It’s also a real possibility that the Illinois State Athletic Commission stepped in and would not let the fight go ahead. Different state commissions operate more or less independently of one another, and have more stringent and lenient guidelines. So even if Battle was allowed to fight with a 4 lb advantage in Las Vegas, that does not mean that he would be permitted to do so in Chicago.
Fans Call For UFC Fighter To Be Cut After Egregious Weight Miss