After a flawless beginning to his UFC career, Bryan Battle took a short notice fight on just two weeks. The opponent was the tough prospect Rinat Fakhretdinov, who brought his solid takedown game to the North Carolina native and handed him his first UFC loss.
Although the choice to take the fight on short notice ultimately led to his first defeat in the organization, Battle and his team don’t wish they could take it back. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
“Me and my coach, we talked about it. We sat down, looked at the tape, and talked about the whole experience afterwards. Neither one of us, we don’t really regret anything,” Battle said. “I do think there’s a world where I win that fight, but I much more set up for long-term success now because I lost that fight.”
While some of the reason he believes he’s set up for more success now is that he knows more about what to do in the cage physically, it was more of the preparation side that he learned the most about. Heading into his fight this Saturday with Gabe Green at UFC Charlotte, that information clicked even further.
“It really dawned on me during this fight camp as I’m coming down the stretch and I’m starting to peak,” he explaijned. “I was technically better going into that fight. I was stronger and faster going into that fight, but I did never peak going into that fight, and I don’t think I realized that.”
And it was that lack of a fight camp peak that Battle believes cost him the fight. However, now with a more complete camp behind him, he’s ready to put that loss behind him as well. As he peaks for this fight on Saturday, he hopes Gabe Green is ready for what he’s about to bring.
“I hope he’s been working on that double leg, man,” Battle said with a chuckle. “He’s a tough durable dude, but if the fight stays on the feet, there’s no way I’m losing it.”
Battle’s fight with Gabe Green will take place on the ESPN prelims of UFC Charlotte. They start at 11:30am EST.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 1:17.
