Bryan Battle wants to ‘shut up’ Tresean Gore next after winning TUF 29

Bryan Battle still can’t believe he is The Ultimate Fighter.

At UFC Vegas 35, Battle submitted Gilbert Urbina in the second round to win the TUF 29 middleweight season. It was a good performance from Battle and although he won on Saturday, he says it still feels surreal that he is The Ultimate Fighter.

“I would say it still hasn’t sunk all the way in yet. It’s still surreal, it doesn’t feel real,” Battle said to BJPENN.com. “Like it still hasn’t sunk all the way in yet that I’m The Ultimate Fighter.”

Battle was supposed to fight Tresean Gore but Gore was forced out of the matchup with an injury. He was then replaced by Urbina who put it on Battle early in the first round, but “Pooh Bear” says he was never hurt at any point.

“He came on strong out of nowhere with the flurry but I wasn’t hurt at all at that point,” Battle said. “I was the one dictating the pace then he turned it up out of nowhere which just caught me off guard. I was never hurt but the takedown was clean and he did land some good shots.”

Although Bryan Battle says the flurry caught him by surprise, he was expecting Urbina to be aggressive in the opening round. When the round ended, he said he noticed Urbina was tired and it would only be a matter of time until he finished him.

Battle did end up getting the stoppage as he got Urbina down and got ahold of his back. Once he got the hooks in, he knew it was over and Urbina eventually tapped and the bout was over.

“We did expect him to be tired entering the second round after the blitz he had. It also made sense that he took this fight on short notice where he probably knows he only has a round of cardio so he has to go for broke,” Battle said. “Then, the second round started to play out how I wanted to and I knew when I got ahold of the back it was only a matter of time. Once I got my hooks in and got the choke I knew it was over.”

With Battle winning, immediately many fans wanted him to fight Gore who was his orginal finale opponent. Pooh Bear says that is a scrap he wants. He has heard all the talk Gore and his supporters have said that Gore would’ve destroyed him. With that, Battle says he wants to shut them all up with a win.

“I would really like to get one more in before the end of the year. I’m used to staying busy. At this point, I have fought four times this year but one more time would be great. I really want to fight Tresean. He has been talking a lot and I’d love to shut him up,” Battle concluded. “There are also a lot of people who think he can beat him. It would be a fun fight and one that makes sense. However, it also depends on when he is healthy.”

Would you like to see Bryan Battle fight Tresean Gore next?