Alan Belcher will step in to the cage at UFC 155 next Saturday against former middleweight title challenger Yushin Okami, while riding a four fight win streak. Even though he has a tough challenge in front of him, not many men are standing as high in the division as ‘The Talent’ at the moment.
To put things in perspective, Anderson Silva is obviously the man to beat still but he’s been chasing a super-fight with Georges St Pierre recently and hasn’t said much about when he is planning on returning to his division to defend his belt again.
Michael Bisping is considered one win away from number one contendership and with Chris Weidman being injured, Belcher is arguably the next plausible test for the champ if Bisping loses against Vitor Belfort at the UFC on FX event on January 9th.
“I know that there’s some openings in the division and I’m going to be the guy to plow through those open spots straight to the top and the way to do it is to fight back-to-back,” said Belcher in an exclusive interview with mmamania.com. “And I’ll be ready to get on that next card. My plan is to be the first guy that they think of whenever Belfort of Michael Bisping gets hurt, and go to Brazil and whoop somebody’s butt.”
Originally scheduled to face Vitor Belfort himself at UFC 153, Belcher was forced to the sidelines due to a back injury. But make no mistake on what Alan Belcher’s New Year’s resolution will be for 2013. Suffice it to say, he plans on going to war against the best the UFC middleweight division can offer.
This is a bold statement for a man who has only fought once a year since 2009. If he really plans on making fighting a priority, he may become a stronger presence in a division that is constantly changing guard as the man on top continues discarding contenders since 2006 as nonchalantly as one may spit out sunflower seed shells on a lazy summer day.
“My goal in 2013 related to fighting is just to fight, get my fights signed more faster,” said Belcher to mmamania.com. “I’m not going to put a number on it like I want to fight three or four times, I just want to fight the best guys and I want to get my fights signed. You can always be training for a fight, make some headway, become the true number one contender in 2013. Whether I get my title shot or not, I want to go on a roll and stay busy and really be involved in the sport and be in front of the fans fighting as much as possible.”
Putting fighting first in his life in 2013 will begin with making a statement against the man who beat him in both of their UFC debut’s, in Yushin Okami. ‘Thunder’ has been around the division for a long time and recently fought Anderson Silva for the gold only to lose twice before winning his last fight by TKO against Buddy Roberts at UFC 150.
Okami is known for changing his game plan and strategy after facing defeat, even going as far to train with Chael Sonnen after losing to the former middleweight contender at UFC 104 in 2009.
Even though Belcher lost to Okami, he feels he knows what went wrong that night and how to adjust accordingly to secure a win and make a run for the belt in 2013.
“I really know what to look out for, I brought in a guy that, if you watch my videos you can see who it is but I brought in a guy who is one of the best international wrestlers in the states who has great body locks, and I know that’s what Okami’s good at, getting his hands locked and a double underhook or an over and under, that probably put me down the first time but it’s more of a move where you take people down who aren’t good at wrestling,” said Belcher to mmamania.com. “And I wasn’t very good at that time and now, I’m not a pushover. I’m not the best or anything but he’s definitely going to have to work his butt off to get me on the ground and if it stays standing I’ll knock him out or I’ll finish the fight.”
But he doesn’t seem worried Okami may have his number these days. Not only does Belcher plan on fighting more in the future, he plans on fighting a lot harder and at a faster pace as well.
“So I’m going to fight with a pace I never have before, I feel in better shape; my power, my explosiveness is better than ever, my strength is better than ever and my conditioning feels great,” said Belcher to mmamania.com. “My timing, all my skills are all in line so I’m just going to let it go and try to take his head off man and if it ends up on the ground I’m going to try and finish it on the ground.”
Whether this one goes to the judges or not, look to see Belcher go in to this fight with the intention of ending Okami’s night, and kicking off a reign of terror in the middleweight division for the impending new year.
Watch highlights from Alan Belcher’s career in the video below.
Video courtesy of YouTube uploader NotSureWhatToPut