Belcher on track to return next year

UFC middleweight contender Alan Belcher is on track to return to the Octagon next year, he told MMA Weekly recently. Belcher was forced to pull out of his UFC Fight Night 22 main event fight with Demian Maia with a detached retina. One surgery didn't take hold but it appears a second one might have done the trick.

They say time heals all wounds, and that was the key to Belcher's injury as well. As the hours turned into days and the days into weeks, Belcher's eye continued to heal and his vision started to get better. Another trip to the doctor's office, and like a weight being lifted off of him, the news was the best thing he had heard in a long time.

"Now we're at where we're at now, it seems everything is healing good this time. The doctors said I can start exercising and I can probably be back doing contact as early as January," said Belcher.

Prior to his injury, he was set to fight in a main event bout against Maia in September. Belcher had been rising up fast through the ranks in the 185-pound division. While he understands that the weight class had to move on without him competing, he plans to work harder than ever to get that spot back.

"I'm itching really bad, I'm missing it," Belcher commented about training. "It's been a part of my life forever pretty much. I haven't taken this much time off from sports and exercise in my whole life. I can't wait."

This is great news as it would've been a shame had Belcher not been able to continue his career due to this injury.