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Bryan Battle's fight at UFC Vegas 88 ended in controversy as an accidental eye poke to Ange Loosa resulted in a no-contest decision, but Battle believes it should have been ruled as a win.
The incident occurred in the second round of the headliner, when a thumb to the eye paused the action. Despite attempts by Loosa to recover, he informed the official that he couldn't see, prompting the referee to wave off the fight.
After the bout, Battle confronted Loosa, and the fighters exchanged heated words before security intervened. Battle later commented on the altercation, suggesting that Loosa didn't want to continue.
"I'm on a completely different level than what I used to be," Battle said. "Any time any of these guys in the whole division feel any of this, it's going to feel a little bit different. This is high-level, this is top-notch.
The fact that he crumbled the way he did and that he quit and then had the audacity to talk about wanting to fight after he had quit the fight, it all speaks for itself."
Replays showed the eye poke from Battle, but Battle downplayed the severity of the incident, suggesting that Loosa saw an opportunity to exit the fight.
While Battle expressed a desire to move on to ranked competition, he did not rule out a rematch with Loosa if the UFC decided to go that route. However, he is primarily focused on progressing in the rankings and securing more significant fights in the future.