Charlotte — In the end, middleweight Bryan Battle felt he had done enough to secure a decision victory over Dalton Rosta in the PFL Charlotte main event.
Battle did, indeed, pick up a split decision win to claim his first victory inside the Professional Fighters League. Though “The Butcher” felt all three judges should have scored the fight for him.
“When it ended, I thought I won the fight for sure. It was tough, it was close but I feel like I landed way more strikes,” Battle (13-3, 1NC) said following the win, which came in his own back yard and went the full 15 minutes. “If you count the total number of strikes, I landed way more strikes and I’d be curious to see the control time.”
“You talk about being in the clinch, when we’re in the clinch, I was active in the clinch. Versus when he had me in the clinch, I defended the takedown. That’s one of the things that’s going on, if I don’t do what I have to do to stop the takedown, I end up on my back. And so I gotta do what I gotta do to stay on my feet, stop him from doing what he wants to do. And that’s not going to be entertaining all the time, if that’s what they’re trying to do.”
Battle touched on it, and fans at the Bojangles Coliseum certainly let it be known that the fight wasn’t always entertaining. Still, Battle felt he had the win, though he could be seen trying to sneak a peak at the judges’ scorecards prior to the official announcement.
“For sure, I definitely thought I did. I was looking over because it was taking way too long. Normally if it takes that long, normally someone’s getting screwed. So I was like, ‘what the hell is taking so long? Let’s get out of here.'”
Battle later added that “I won. I felt like I won three out of three judges should have thought that, but two out of three is all that you need.”
To fan online suggesting the fight was a robbery, Battle was blunt. “Bro I don’t care. Next question.”
Bryan Battle is now 1-1 since arriving in the PFL earlier this year and dropping his debut against Johnny Eblen. He’s looking to fight once more in 2026.
“Another fight before the end of the year. Doesn’t matter who. Impa, Impa just lost, that’s something, me and him have floated around each other for a long time,” Battle suggested, referring to fellow UFC alum Impa Kasanganay. Josh Fremd, who also won on Friday, was another name Battle brought up.
“Welterweight’s not out of the question either.”
Watch the full PFL Charlotte post-fight press conference with Bryan Battle above.
