LAS VEGAS – Bryan Battle thinks he’s settled any doubts about his “Ultimate Fighter” title.
The Season 29 winner of the show thinks he solidified his standing after defeating fellow cast member Tresean Gore at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 200. Battle (7-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) beat Gore with a unanimous decision.
Battle was supposed to face Gore in the season finale this past August, but a Gore knee injury took him out of the fight. Instead, Battle fought and beat Gilbert Urbina, who lost to Gore in the semifinals. But the win left doubts for some since Battle hadn’t beaten another true finalist.
“It ‘s like one of those weird things, and at the end of the day we’re just fighting,” Battle told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 200 post-fight news conference. “We’re getting inside of the cage and we’re just fighting each other. It’s the same thing since we were amateurs until now.
“The difference is the public perception of it, the eyes that are on it, the lights, the production value. With this fight, this was my first UFC fight, but so many people were talking about it as being the real ‘TUF’ finale. If Tre wins, he’s the real champ. That’s all stuff that when you’re preparing for a fight, you can’t let in your head because it just adds pressure – but it’s still there. You try to ignore it as much as I can, but it’s still there.
“So tonight, I defended my title for ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ If anyone ever asks who’s the ‘TUF’ champ for Season 29 of the 185 motherf*cking pound division – it’s Bryan Battle.”
Battle now is on a six-fight winning streak. The 27-year-old hopes to keep busy in 2022 and is determined to step up his game since he knows tougher challenges lie ahead.
“I still want to fight a couple (more) fights this year,” Battle said. “I still want to fight two or three times this year. So I’m going to let this swelling down and then get right back in the lab. I have to get back to improving. Whoever I fight next is going to be tougher than Tre, so I have to be better than tonight.”