Bryan Battle jumped at the chance to go into enemy territory to face Kevin Jousset at UFC Paris.
Battle is coming off a No Contest against Ange Loosa in March due to an accidental eye poke. It was a fight Battle was winning early on, and he says because of that, the UFC matchmakers saw enough to not have to rebook the bout.
“They viewed that as a win, there was no need to rebook that fight. The matchmakers saw what they needed to see and the people saw what they needed to see. If we were to fight again, I think I would have put him away in the first,” Battle said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com.
After the fight, Bryan Battle was hoping to make a quick turnaround and actually had an offer to fight at UFC 300. Unfortunately, that bout proposal never came to fruition. Instead, he was offered Jousset at UFC Paris, which is a fight Battle jumped at, despite not knowing much about the Frenchman.
“I wasn’t familiar with him at all. I didn’t know who Kevin was, right now, he’s 2-0 that’s nice, he has a perfect record in the UFC,” Battle said. But, I’m somewhat of a veteran now, seven fights deep. I feel confident that I am the A-Side even though I am going into enemy territory…
“I was supposed to be on UFC 300, but someone turned it down. When I got offered names, Kevin was the only name with a date on it. Then my manager said it was Paris, that is where I’m trying to go. To fight someone from there is awesome. I want to fight in front of live crowds and get the energy,” Battle added.
