UFC brutally cuts 'The Ultimate Fighter' winner after he misses weight for 3rd fight

The UFC has decided to cut a former winner of The Ultimate Fighter after he failed to make weight for the third time since joining the promotion.

Following a 5-1 start to his professional MMA career, Bryan Battle joined the cast of TUF Season 29 in 2021. He went on to become the season’s middleweight winner when he submitted Gilbert Urbina in the finals after original finalist Tresean Gore was forced to withdraw with a knee injury.

Battle defeated Gore in his formal UFC debut in 2022 before dropping down to welterweight, but unfortunately the 30-year-old’s planned return to 185 lbs. at UFC 319 last weekend fell through when he missed the middleweight limit by several pounds on weigh-in day.

Bryan Battle Cut From UFC After Missing Weight In Chicago

It initially seemed like Battle’s fight with Nursulton Ruziboev might still go ahead before the matchup was ultimately scrapped, which made it the third UFC 319 bout to be cancelled during fight week after the card also lost King Green vs. Diego Ferreira and Rodrigo Sezinando vs. Daniil Donchenko.

Bryan Battle (blue gloves) reacts during the fight against Randy Brown (red gloves) at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

UFC 319 weigh-in day was the first time Battle had missed the middleweight limit but was his third weight miss overall after he also came in heavy for his last fight with Randy Brown and a 2023 bout with Gabe Green. According to the UFC Roster Watch account, the 30-year-old has officially been cut following his latest transgression.

Former TUF Winner Only Lost Once In The UFC

The UFC typically doesn’t have much patience for fighters that repeatedly miss weight, but it’s an unfortunate ending for Battle after he put together an impressive 7-1 (1 NC) record dating back to his win over Gilbert Urbina in the finals of TUF 29.

After besting Gore in an unofficial rescheduling of the original TUF middleweight finals, “The Butcher” secured his first post-fight bonus when he knocked out Takashi Sato with a head kick in just 44 seconds. That was followed by Battle’s lone UFC loss to Rinat Fakhretdinov, but he rebounded from that setback with back-to-back finishes of Gabe Green and AJ Fletcher.

Randy Brown (red gloves) fights Bryan Battle (blue gloves) at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The Green fight marked Battle’s first weight miss in the UFC. After a 2024 bout with Ange Loosa ended in a No Contest. he scored one more post-fight bonus against Kevin Jousset before he once again missed the welterweight limit before beating Randy Brown via split decision at UFC 310.

MMA fans saw UFC CEO Dana White take an uncharacteristic stance earlier this week when he signed Louis Lee Scott off of Dana White’s Contender Series even though Scott missed weight, and perhaps if Battle can pick up a few wins outside of the UFC he may find himself back in the Octagon at some point in the future.

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