Having completed the last fight of his latest contract with World Series of Fighting, David Branch is now a free agent. Branch, who held both the promotion’s middleweight and light heavyweight titles, confirmed his free agency on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.
“I’m definitely a free agent now, I’m officially a free agent,” he said on the show. “I’m going to be looking to explore my opportunities on the outside of WSOF. And I think it was about time for me and the company to just split ways. There was some misunderstandings that happened, and as a result of those misunderstandings it was best for me to be released and stuff like that. Plus I just want to do other things.”
Though Branch is likely to receive offers from other top organizations, he hopes to end up with the UFC, as he’d like to prove that he’s one of the best fighters in the world.
“I think one of the big things that people — people and the media, and to myself, you know I’m 35 years old right now and at the end of this whole fighting career, and I’m a two-division champion and all that — but people will always say, ‘well he didn’t do it in the UFC.’ Well you know, here’s the deal. I’m a free agent now. People have been saying for years that I’m the best fighter on the outside of the UFC. I disagree. I believe that I’m the best fighter in the world. And I think that now is my opportunity to be able to prove that.”
“I haven’t signed with them yet, I haven’t signed with anybody. My manager is working on some things, and we should have some announcements by the middle of this week, before this week is out for sure.”
Branch went 10-0 inside the WSOF cage, scoring wins over names like Paulo Filho, Jesse Taylor, Yushin Okami, Teddy Holder, Clifford Starks, and most recently, Louis Taylor. If he returns to the Octagon, it will not be altogether unfamiliar territory, as he went 2-2 in the promotion back in 2010 and 2011.
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This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/7/2017.