PHOTO | David Branch has completely transformed since leaving UFC

By Tom Taylor - January 22, 2020

In September of 2019, former two-division World Series of Fighting champion David Branch was released by the UFC after receiving a two-year suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

David Branch

Since leaving the UFC, Branch has completely transformed. Today, he looks less like a middleweight mixed martial artist, and more like a member of the Justice League.

See Branch’s new physique below (via Instagram):

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7mQkRBlnQc/

Branch was suspended after an out-of-competition drug test detected the banned substance Ipamorelin in his system. Just before his failed test was announced, he was pulled from a UFC Vancouver scrap with Andrew Sanchez.

Branch’s USADA suspension marked the end of his second stint in the UFC. During this second run with the promotion, he went 2-3, defeating Krzysztof Jotko by decision and Thiago Santos by knockout, and losing to Luke Rockhold, Jared Cannonier and Jack Hermansson, all by way of stoppage.

Prior to rejoining the UFC roster, Branch spent several years competing for WSOF, which has since become the Professional Fighters League. He went a perfect 10-0 in the WSOF cage, capturing belts in two divisions and defeating the likes of Paulo Filho, Jesse Taylor, Yushin Okami, Clifford Starks, Vinny Magalhaes and Louis Taylor.

Since leaving the UFC, Branch has fought just once, losing by submission to former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko under the RCC banner. It’s not clear if he plans to continue fighting, but if he does, it will likely have to be at light heavyweight or heavyweight, as the middleweight limit of 186 pounds now looks like a distant memory for him at this stage.

What do you think of this transformation from David Branch? Would you be interested in seeing him fight at light heavyweight or heavyweight outside the UFC? Join the conversation in the comments section down below.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/22/2020. 


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David Branch UFC