UFC news: Bryan Battle changes weight class, set to meet Takashi Sato at welterweight in August

Bryan Battle, middleweight champion of The Ultimate Fighter 28 will move down a weight class for his third UFC bout.

Welcoming Battle to the welterweight division will be Japan’s Takashi Sato. The matchup is set to take place on August 6 at a UFC Fight Night event that will be headlined by a light heavyweight matchup, Jamahal Hill vs. Thiago Santos. The event does not yet have a confirmed venue or location.

The pairing was first reported by MMA Fighting, and both fighters announced the booking via Twitter on Monday evening.

8/6 we’re back baby pic.twitter.com/l71LSsxz7F

— Bryan Battle (@BryanBattle10) June 13, 2022

Battle (7-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) who won his first two UFC bouts in the middleweight division, will move down to a new weight class. Battle defeated Gilbert Urbina via submission in the TUF 28 tournament championship. He then defeated Tresean Gore by unanimous decision, the man who he was originally set to face in the finale.

Sato (16-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) will look to snap his recent skid and get back to .500 in his UFC career. The Japanese welterweight has dropped his two previous outings against Miguel Baeza and Gunnar Nelson. Sato holds wins over Jason Witt and Ben Saunders in the UFC.

With the addition, the Aug. 6 lineup includes:

• Thiago Santos vs. Jamahal Hill
• Vicente Luque vs. Geoff Neal
• Bryan Battle vs. Takashi Sato
• Miranda Granger vs. Cory McKenna
• Stephanie Egger vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
• Erick Gonzalez vs. Terrance McKinney
• Misha Cirkunov vs. Shamil Gamzatov
• Sam Alvey vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk