Bryan Battle vs. Nursulton Ruziboev In The Works For UFC 319

A middleweight fight between Bryan Battle and Nursulton Ruziboev is in the works for UFC 319 in Chicago on August 16th.

The match-up was first reported by JakeNoeckerMMA and has since been reposted by Battle himself, though it’s still yet to be officially announced.

The 30-year-old former TUF Season 29 winner Battle has recently been plying his trade successfully at welterweight, putting together four wins and a no-contest over the past couple of years.

However, Battle has missed weight twice in the division, including coming in at 175lbs for a split-decision win over Randy Brown in his latest fight at UFC 310 last December, which appears to have prompted a move back up to 185lbs for the first time since 2022.

Now Battle will go up against the 31-year-old Ruziboev, who has gone 4-1 in the UFC since joining almost two years ago after having already amassed well over 40 fights in his career beforehand.

Ruziboev has already been very active this year, picking up wins over Eric McConico and Dustin Stoltzfus, but he’s yet to break into the rankings.

Battle vs. Ruziboev would join a UFC 319 card that is set to be headlined by a middleweight title fight between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev, while Tim Elliott vs. Kai Asakura and Alexander Hernandez vs. Chase Hooper are already confirmed for the show.