Former top-ranked UFC middleweight Alan Belcher is considering a return to mixed martial arts.
“The Talent” hasn’t competed in the sport since his unanimous decision loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 159 in 2013. He fought inside the Octagon from 2006 to 2013 and compiled a record of 18-8.
Belcher is known by many in the MMA community for his large arm tattoo of Johnny Cash’s head. And as coined by Sportskeed.com, it’s the “worst tattoo in UFC history.” You can see Belcher’s tattoo via the Twitter embed below:
Belcher isn’t retired from combat sports, however. He transitioned to boxing and bare-knuckle boxing in 2021 and he holds a 2-0 record in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) as a heavyweight.
He’s set to headline the BKFC Fight Night Jackson 2 event on Saturday night against Frank Tate.
Belcher Said He Got ‘Really Big Really Fast’ in the UFC, Unsure if he Was ‘Mature Enough’
By the time of his last fight in MMA, Belcher was only 29 years old. And he told MMA Junkie in a recent interview that his “mind wasn’t in a good place.”
“My mind wasn’t in a good place before,” Belcher said via the outlet. “I got really big really fast, and I wanted to be UFC champ really fast. I wasn’t maybe mature enough to deal with the things – even injuries.
“How do you know when you have an eye injury if you should stop or you should fight? The doctor says, ‘Hey, it’s up to you, but here are the risks.’ You weigh out those risks and who knows what you’re supposed to do.
“I took a few years and really just learned what I was supposed to be doing and what makes me happy and stuff like that. I changed things around, and now I’m an older, wiser, smarter, harder hitting fighter.”
Belcher Said He’s ‘Open to Anything,’ 1 More MMA Fight Is on His ‘Bucket List’
Belcher’s fight with Tate is likely a heavyweight title eliminator. And should he capture the BKFC heavyweight belt and earn a couple of big paychecks, fans could see him dip his toe back into MMA.
“I’m really open to anything,” Belcher said to MMA Junkie. “I do know that if I come back to MMA, I’m going to have a lot of new skills from what I’m doing now, mentally being a big part of it.
“In a way, I think I would do better at MMA than probably boxing and bare-knuckle boxing because now I have better hands and just a better way … a more technical, more methodical type of system to fight with and everything. But whatever the payday is, whatever gets me excited and whatever pays the most. To me those are big deals to me. If I’m passionate about it, I might do an MMA fight.
“Let’s say I win this BKFC heavyweight title, and I get a couple of big boxing paydays, and I’m OK with it. For my own personal bucket list, I would do one MMA fight again, or maybe that all leads to some type of big crossover fight. Hopefully what I would like to see is, once I get the belt is challenge other champions, especially like the free agents that can do it like Francis Ngannou, challenge these guys to bare-knuckle boxing.”
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Owner of ‘Worst Tattoo in UFC History’ Wants to Return to MMA