UFC Middleweight Misses Weight Yet Again, UFC 319 Fight Canceled originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Bryan Battle, the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 29 alongside Ricky Turcios, had a promising career in the UFC ahead of him. While he may not have been in any championship contender talks yet, he was slowly building his case to be an exciting action fighter, especially once he moved from middleweight down to welterweight in 2022.
After missing the welterweight limit (170 lbs) twice, including a 175-lb weigh-in for a December 2024 fight against Randy Brown, Battle moved back up to middleweight and was scheduled to fight Nursulton Ruziboev on the early prelims of UFC 319.
His return to middleweight against Ruziboev was canceled just hours before the event, after Battle missed weight by four pounds, marking his second consecutive weight-cutting failure across two divisions.
He weighed in at 190 lbs for the 186-lb limit (including the one-pound non-title allowance), forcing the UFC to cancel the bout despite initial plans to proceed with a 30% purse penalty, per ESPN Deportes reporter Carlos Contreras Legaspi.
His opponent, Ruziboev, responded on social media to the weight miss with choice words for Battle.
On his Instagram story, reposted by Full Send MMA on X (formerly Twitter), Ruziboev wrote, “Instead of talking too much, you need to make the weight first. This is a professional sport, blondie.”
Battle had his professionalism called into question by his opponent, as this latest weight miss was his third in his last six fights. While Ruziboev will likely receive his show money, Battle faces an uncertain future.
Historically, the UFC has cut fighters for repeated weight misses, and Battle’s case is even weaker as he jumped up a division and still failed to make weight. The UFC’s decision to cancel the bout rather than enforce a catchweight could be a sign that the promotion is losing patience with Battle.
The cancellation leaves UFC 319 with 12 fights, down from the original 15, though the marquee matchups remain intact.
On the main event, UFC President and CEO Dana White said on Pardon My Take, “That fight is gonna be badass. There is no way that the main event is not the Fight of the Night.”
Battle, who once fought at heavyweight before slimming down for TUF, has yet to address the latest miss. A return to welterweight seems unlikely, and middleweight may no longer be viable if he can’t make 186 lbs. The UFC’s next move could force him to 205 lbs or release him outright unless he makes serious changes to repair his reputation.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
