'You thought I'd lose a fist fight with a French dude?'… Bryan Battle goads UFC Paris crowd after landing second round KO over hometown star
Yesterday at 07:34 PM
Bryan Battle got himself back in the win column at UFC Paris, but the French fans weren’t too keen on his method of victory.
The welterweight prospect had been on a winning run before his last bout with Ange Loosa was called off prematurely following an accidental eye poke. But he got right back to form with a third stoppage win in four against hometown hero Kevin Jousset.
Unfortunately for Battle, those in attendance at the Accor Arena had been hoping to see the Frenchman pick up a victory, and weren’t happy to see him win. And he turned it around with an excellent heel promo that a WWE star would be proud of.
Bryan Battle stops Kevin Jousset in impressive UFC Paris win
Entering the octagon as the clear villain of the piece, Bryan Battle walked out to the infamous Kanye West song ‘N*****s in Paris’. He appeared to relish his newfound role of heel, although the fight didn’t start exactly as he had planned.
Jousset used his impressive judo background to make moves towards getting the fight to the ground. However, Battle managed to get his own shots off, with the judges split 2-1 in favour of the American going into the second.
In round two, it was much more dominant from the former The Ultimate Fighter winner who pushed the pressure and threw with a rare volume. Ultimately he managed to get the stoppage, much to the chagrin of a Paris crowd who were treated to a mixed bag of results for home fighters.
He basked in their disappointment, however, and continued to antagonise them as he celebrated his victory. After sticking up the middle fingers, he proceeded to give an aggressive pro-American speech in his post-fight interview.
The victory was enough to earn Battle a $50,000 performance of the night bonus alongside Chris Duncan, Fares Ziam and hometown favourite Morgan Charriere. He is now 6-1 in the UFC with one No Contest.
Bryan Battle cuts vicious promo on French fans after UFC Paris KO
The highlight of Battle’s performance was arguably after the fight itself. Showered in boos from the hostile French crowd, he delievered an uncharacteristically aggressive heel promo straight out of professional wrestling.
Speaking with Michael Bisping in the octagon, he took the microphone and declared: “I got to say something right quick. Yeah, keep booing me, baby, I love it. Keep booing me, listen, people been booing me and doubting me since I started training.
“The more you boo me, the stronger I get, baby. I’m used to this, y’all can’t stop me. Keep it up, you can’t stop me!”
He really got into it when he took aim at the French crowd again, adding: “Aye, USA in this s*** baby, let me hear it! I know y’all didn’t think ‘The Butcher’ was going to lose in a fist fight to a French dude? That ain’t never going to happen, baby!”
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