Bryan Battle’s reason to want to fight Tresean Gore is not to prove that he’s “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Originally scheduled to meet Gore in the TUF 29 finale, Battle (6-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) ended up facing Gilbert Urbina instead after Gore (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) withdrew due to injury. Battle wound up submitting Urbina in the second round to win the show at middleweight.
While Battle agrees that there’s unfinished business between him and Gore, it’s not for the same reasons everyone else is thinking.
“The show is over, and I’m the ‘Ultimate Fighter.’ That is a fact,” Battle told MMA Junkie Radio. “I would love to fight Tre. Tre was supposed to be who I fight; that’s who I was prepared for. Me and Tre, even before the show, we almost fought each other a couple of times, and it never really panned out, so I’m here for it. I’m ready to fight Tre and if we fight each other, that would be cool. I don’t know how long he’ll be out with his injury, though.
“I’m trying to fight in December, so if that fight happens, cool because like I said, the show is over. I don’t feel like I have anything left to prove, but what I do know just on a personal level, I know Tre thinks he can beat me, and I think I can beat Tre, so I’d like to settle that out just for personal reasons.”
Battle’s theory is that part of “The Ultimate Fighter” is getting through the multiple weight cuts and the strenuous schedule. So the fact that an injury forced Gore out, Battle sees it as a legitimate elimination from the tournament.
“We were still fighting for the first place spot in the tournament, and he got injured and didn’t have what it took to be ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’” Battle said. “So not necessarily from a skill point of view, but from the ability to keep himself healthy. I understand it’s unfortunate circumstances, it can happen to everybody, but that’s just the name of the game.”
TUF 29 winner Bryan Battle wants to settle score with Tresean Gore ‘just for personal reasons’
