Dalton Rosta is in a marquee matchup against Bryan Battle at PFL Charlotte and if the former secures his ideal outcome, it will seemingly have strong residual effects for his future in the sport. The Dalton Rosta vs. Bryan Battle bout goes down on August 7th at Bojangles Coliseum.
The brash ATT product had an Instagram post leading into this fight that was succinct whereby the caption simply said ‘redemption.’ When asked what the deeper meaning was to that recent caption, Dalton Rosta said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“It’s just going to be the start of my resurgence for my career, you know, a career resurgence at this point. This one gets me back into the win column. Then I can’t say too much, but there’s some things on the horizon after that that maybe highlight and [can] accentuate [some things from] a little bit earlier in my career and I’ll be able to right some wrongs.”
Touching on how this will be something that the MMA fan base will get to see incrementally and not just in one go during this North Carolina clash, Dalton Rosta stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“No, it’s not going to be in Charlotte. It’s going to be what happens after. So, I can’t really reveal but the thing is I got to focus on Bryan Battle first. Bryan Battle is the guy in front of me. I can’t overlook him. I’ve done that to guys in the past. This fight camp all of my energy, all of my focus, everything is going on Bryan Battle. I know it’s cliche, but I’ve said it in the past and I didn’t mean it. You know what I mean? I’ve always been looking past guys, but this time Bryan Battle all the way.”
As he prepares to face a former UFC veteran on their home turf as Battle will be the partisan favorite for the Friday fight, Dalton Rosta quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah. So I mean I’m at this camp honestly I’m going to be watching film on him every single day. First person I think of whenever I wake up is probably going to be Bryan Battle. Last person I think of before I go to sleep is probably going to be Bryan Battle. No I don’t mean this in a romantic way [laughs]. Because on August 7th it’s not going to be romantic. I’m going to be beating his face in.”
As former PFL tournament finalist, when espousing his viewpoints on PFL shifting away from the bracketed tournament framework to a more normative super fight style, matchmaking modality, Dalton Rosta said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“I like the tournament. I know my next date after that, I have a schedule. So, it’s easier to work around and then I know my off season pretty much. So, that’s the benefit of it. Then also, you don’t get to choose your opponents. They they drop the bracket and you fight who you fight. You win, another person wins, guess what? That’s your next opponent. This one, it kind of; politics start to come come to play. Like me and Bryan Battle, both of us are on a losing streak. Well, I’m on a losing streak, two [fight] losing streak.”
“He’s coming off a loss. He’s 0-1 in the PFL. We’re main eventing a card in Charlotte [laughs]. I know that’s where he’s from, but it’s kind of crazy that my stock went up after a loss. I’m one of the few people in the company that I feel like, especially after the way that things went down in Pittsburgh, the way the crowd [made noise], I packed the arena, the crowd got behind me, everything. The fans were buzzing over me on social media, even though it didn’t go my way, I’m one of the few people in the company that my stock can go up after a loss.”
“I think that’s what happened. I think PFL is putting a lot of faith in me, giving me this opportunity to be the main event against Bryan Battle in his hometown. I go out there, I succeed, I put on a performance, I’m right back in the title picture.”
Dalton Rosta will open up the entire book and bring his A-game vs. bryan battle at pFL Charlotte
When asked if Bryan Battle was a hard guy to trash talk with considering how likable he seems to be, Dalton Rosta stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, I mean I said this before. I like him. You know what I mean? I was a fan. I was sharing; he had a boxing match with that Dirty Boxing [Championship] and his post-fight speech, I was sharing it in my group message with my friends. Cuz I thought it was inspirational. I thought it was. Like he is well spoken. He promotes himself well. He does good promos. I do like the way he carries himself and his fight style. So I was a fan but now I got to fight him. So my success is at the expense of his.”
At the PFL Summer Series press conference, Johnny Eblen mentioned he felt that Rosta would have the advantage in the wrestling department. An edge where perhaps a submission would present itself or even a ground and pound scenario could pop up for Rosta. When asked how if he sees the story of this fight unfurling in either of those ways that Eblen outlined, Dalton Rosta quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, it’s a possibility, but I also just feel like maybe I don’t want to say taking a dig. Maybe he was like playing down my striking a little bit too because I feel like I have the advantage in striking too. I just can’t make it; or maybe he was just like trying to say like cuz he did bring up the point ‘don’t turn into a coin flip.’ Because I was winning in the striking exchanges with Impa [Kasanganay], although we were back and forth. It was close.”
“Numbers sided and favored me. If you go back and watch, a lot of those numbers that were tallied up for him actually weren’t landing. It just looked good. Then I turned it into a coin flip and I lost. I very well could have won that fight if I fought smart. You know what I mean? So I think that was what he was referring to.”
“But if I fight smart and I keep it striking, I can win that way, too. But I think at this fight, you’re going to see me pull out some some moves that you might have seen me like put dormant for a little bit. Some things that you haven’t seen me throw in a long time. I’m going to bring my A-game. I’m going to bring every single like; I’m going to open up my entire book.”
