Bryan Battle didn’t expect his welterweight cut to go as smoothly as it did.
Battle, who won TUF at middleweight, was set to make his welterweight debut at UFC Vegas 59 against Takashi Sato. Although Battle did a test cut before making the move down, he was still uncertain how he’d feel when he got in the Octagon. Thankfully, Battle says the cut went smoothly and he felt great.
“Everything went perfect until the last 0.8 pounds. The last 0.8 gave us a lot of grief but once I got passed that hump it was great,” Battle said to BJPENN.com. “The rehydration process went fantastic, everything went well and the next time I do I’m not going to have any hiccups. All things considered, it was a good cut.”
In the lead-up to the fight, Bryan Battle says he and his team saw an opening for the head kick. While watching tape, he and his team saw that Sato tended to drop his hands when opponents threw an overhand right, so after throwing a right hand he threw the kick that KO’d Sato.
“It’s a surreal experience, that is a kick that I have drilled a million times because the head kick is something we saw was opened and knew I could land,” Battle said. “For it to reveal itself as it did, after I threw my first right hand I saw the head kick was open off of that. You can’t ask for a better situation than that.”
After the win, Battle was quick to call out Ian Garry and he remains adamant that is the fight he wants. He believes it makes sense and wants it to happen at UFC 281 in Madison Square Garden.
“I know Ian isn’t going to be happy with people saying he’s getting protected. I don’t think he was thinking about me before but getting that highlight-reel KO and calling him out, maybe he’s interested in it now,” Battle said. “I don’t see why he wouldn’t want it. If he beats me, people will give him more respect because I’m a TUF champ and am 3-0 in the UFC. I don’t know what the UFC wants to do with this kid. But, whoever wins between us will probably get a ranked guy next.”
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