Tamdan McCrory Leaves Behind Bellator Title Shot To Re-Sign With UFC

“”The Barn Cat” will be making his return inside the Octagon.

Welterweight bruiser Tamdan McCrory (13-3) has left Bellator in favor of re-signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The UFC made the announcement earlier today (Aug. 18, 2015).

In the announcement, McCrory revealed something interesting. He claims that when he decided to return to the UFC, he turned down a title opportunity with Bellator:

“I left a title shot in [my last promotion] to come to the UFC. If I wanted to win that belt I could have stayed and done it, but I wanted to be back in the sport of MMA, not the MMA entertainment business.”

McCrory left the largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion with a 3-3 record under the UFC banner. Following a split decision loss to John Howard in Aug. 2009, “The Barn Cat” was released from the organization.

Five years later, McCrory returned to MMA with a 21-second knockout win over Brennan Ward. He followed up that performance with a first-round submission victory over Jason Butcher.

With his upcoming return to the UFC set in place, McCrory will look to erase the memories of his first run. In that stint, he suffered submission losses to Akihiro Gono and Dustin Hazelett. In 2015, Gono is long gone from the UFC and Hazelett retired from the sport altogether.

It’ll be a fresh start for the 28-year-old 170-pounder from Cortland, New York. If his two bouts in Bellator are any indication of McCrory’s second stint inside the Octagon, the welterweight division may very well be put on notice. One thing appears to be certain, McCrory isn’t at a loss of confidence:

“I wouldn’t have come back if I didn’t believe wholeheartedly that I could come back and just wreck house.”

While a fight hasn’t been booked for McCrory yet, the former Bellator standout is aiming for a bout in October or November.