Less than 10 days following his release from the UFC, Bryan Battle made his Dirty Boxing Championship debut at DBX 3, pulling off a win over Derik de Freitas in a fight that was short, but also weird, if not downright atrocious.
After a pair of combinations, Freitas threw wildly before clinching with Battle and having to be separated. Battle and Freitas would then swing away before a left hand dropped Freitas, with Battle following up with some ground strikes. After another referee stand up, Battle knocked Freitas down again with another series of shots.
Freitas grabbed Battle's leg to reset but did not answer the referee's order to get up, prompting him to stop the match and awarded the fight to Battle.
Bryan Battle Quickly Stops Derik de Freitas At Dirty Boxing 3
Battle was released by the UFC following the weekend of UFC 319. Battle was scheduled to compete on the card against Nursulton Ruziboev but came in four pounds over the middleweight non-title limit, and the fight was canceled. This was Battle's second straight scheduled fight where he missed weight, as he came in four pounds over the welterweight non-title limit for his UFC 310 win over Randy Brown.
Freitas has a 3-9 professional MMA record. Prior to tonight, his most recent fight came in November, losing in 20 seconds to Angelo Rivera Jr. due to ankle injury.