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Chaos erupted in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 239 after an accidental eye poke from Bryan Battle to Ange Loosa led to Loosa not continuing to fight and then a post-fight altercation happened after that.
Battle claims that Loosa was milking the eye injury to avoid losing to him at the UFC Apex.
“What triggered the argument is that I looked at him and called him a p*ssy,” Battle told reporters after the event (transcript via Nolan King & Ken Hathaway of MMA Junkie). “I knew it wasn’t that bad. I knew it wasn’t that bad. I’ve been poked in the eye before. I’ve accidentally poked people in the eye before. I’m sitting there looking at him and he’s fine.
“It was really just one of those things where he was getting his ass whooped. He knew there was no way he was going to win that fight. He knew without a shadow of a doubt there was no way he was going to win that fight. So when he had an opportunity to act like he couldn’t see, that they would call it a no contest (he did).
“I mean, a no contest is better than a loss, which is clearly what he was headed for. He didn’t have the speed. He didn’t have the power. He didn’t have the size. He didn’t have the grappling technique. He didn’t have the striking technique. None of that. He didn’t have any of those areas to compete with me. It’s unfortunate but whatever. We move on. That’s life. That’s the fight game. I’ve got bigger and better things on the horizon anyway. We just keep on moving.”
Loosa has yet to publicly comment on the situation and there has been no statement yet from the UFC as to whether or not a rematch will be booked down the line.
Battle also doesn’t see Loosa agreeing to a rematch, as Battle believes he would pick up the easy win if that were to happen.
“I don’t see how he agrees to a rematch,” Battle said. “That’s an easy paycheck for me. I would prefer to keep on moving up in the rankings. I’d prefer to fight someone with more of a name. We’re the co-main event but we’re not the co-main event if he’s the A-side. I was the A-side of this match. I’m ready to move onto something bigger and better. If the UFC hits me up and they’re like, ‘Ange Loosa (on) such-and-such date,’ I’m like, ‘All right, fine.’ I’ll whoop his ass again.”
